Reveries of Life, Love, and Revenge
by Mitsarugi Urashima
Summary: When four new girls try their hand at becoming ninjas, will relationships interrupt their training? What about Itachi? Will he cause trouble in paradise? {Multiple pairings...}CH.8 is up...
1. Enter! Mitsarugi, Nikko, and Zeo!

Reveries of Life, Love, and Revenge

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**Story**: Ninja time fiction; a few new characters are introduced. Mitsarugi Urashima, Alona Raye, Nikko (Don't know her last name) and Zeo Faust are basically the four main characters. Yes; you've probably heard Zeo somewhere before. Don't worry, the person who created her is my friend. I have permission to use her.

**Main Pairings**: Sasuke/Mitsarugi, Shikamaru/Zeo, Gaara/Zeo, Orochimaru/Alona, Kabuto/Nikko, Ino/Chouji, Hinata/Naruto, Rock Lee/Sakura, and that's it for now…

Legal stuff/Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto in any way whatsoever. Although I would LIKE to own it, there isn't any way in which I can say that I claim it.

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Chapter 1: Enter! Urashima Mitsarugi, Nikko, and Zeo Faust!

It was mid-day. The brilliantly orange shaded sky was flecked with light shades of violet, a bluish-tint adding onto the beauty at the bottom. Mitsarugi rubbed her eyes lazily, brushing away some stray chestnut strands that were blocking her vision. The icy blue pools scanned every area of the horizon; it wasn't everyday that she witnessed something so beautiful. Usually she was training, but today, however, was different. On this warm, autumn night in Konoha, the youngest member of the Urashima clan was taking a break to celebrate a holiday; today was the exact same day her whole family had died.

"Mmm…" the young girl said quietly to herself in her high-pitched child's voice. "I should take a break more often… My muscles are strained..."

Indeed they were. In the Urashima clan, it was required that you had god-like agility. This had affected their advanced blood-line ability, but the problem was, Mitsarugi had given up hope trying to master the unique skill her clan had used. She just… couldn't learn it. _I train every day… It's just not easy trying to learn an advanced bloodline skill on your own… What?! _The eleven year old girl's head cracked as it quickly adjusted its position to look behind her. There was a little bit of rustling by the leaves in the shrubs behind her… Mitsarugi was already ready with two long and sharp strands of barbed wire. She held them in her fingers and waited for a figure to emerge from the plants and didn't move. _Any second now… _"Calm down, Mitsa… I swear, you've been quite jumpy lately." With that, and tall, slender figure walked into the premises. It was a girl, around 14. Nikko. The eleven year old could only help but smile as she saw her friend walk ever closer to her. "Sorry, Nikko-san. Tonight is the holiday… if you can even call it that." The child's voice shook as she said this; it was clearly obvious she had fought back tears. Nikko simply stared at the girl, her face, as awkward as it may sound, emotionless. Her dirty-blonde hair rested softly on the teenager's shoulders as her blue eyes continued to stare at Mitsarugi. You'd think she'd have gotten over it by now..?   
  
"Mitsa… You shouldn't even think about that event now. It's all in the past."

_Flashback_

_"I thought the Urashima clan was strong. Guess I was wrong." Analia and Eric looked frightfully at the tall figure with raven colored hair. His eyes were glowing a bright crimson; was THIS the sharingan?! A small, five year old girl quietly snuck into the living room, her eyes widening. There, right in front of her, were her parents. Dead. "They aren't alive any longer… the disgusting vermin." With that, the man left. He had took the bodies with him… But… Where was he going?_

_The child followed slowly behind the murderer who had killed her parents. He was walking into an alleyway..? That wasn't a good place to dispose bodies.. It was then that here eyes widened. Hundreds… Possibly thousands of people were laying in the alley. The only other living human there was a little boy who had looked exactly like the murderer. He was… crying? "Otousan… Okaachan…"  
  
As he wailed these words, the little girl walked over to him. "… Why are you crying?" She could simply mutter these words, although the answer was clear. The little boy sniffled as he turned around. The female child just sat next to the boy, smiling. "It's okay. What's your name?" The raven haired boy found it amazingly odd how someone could be so strong after their parent's deaths.. _

_"…Sasuke." _

_The girl just smiled. "I'm Mitsarugi… Sorry about your mom and dad." Sasuke just simply stared at the girl. "That man… killed my parents, too." _

_End Flashback_

"I can't help but to think about it… I met _him _that day, too." Mitsarugi stood straight, her gaze still focused on the horizon. Her friend bit her bottom lip. Had she… struck a nerve? No, Mitsarugi was too strong to care. "Ah, that's right. You met Sasuke that day." Nikko had finally managed to speak, although she really had wanted to stay silent. The eleven year old simply nodded. _Yes… I met him that day. _It was growing darker, indicating night was growing ever near. Leaf ninjas, genins especially, weren't allowed outside at night now. Safety precautions were taking place now; Orochimaru was… successfully carrying out his plan.

"Oiiiiiiii! You two! You're past curfew!"

Nikko and Mitsarugi glanced over at the jounin who was patrolling, their eyes squinting a bit to see through the darkness. They both slowly started walking back to Mitsarugi's house. Both were unusually quiet; Nikko was simply silent and Mitsarugi was lost in thought. The sky was covered in a thick sheet of black now, white orbs taking their usual spot in the sky and sitting there idly. The fourteen year old was the first one to break the silence, "This was about the time they died, right? Nine at night?" Mitsarugi nodded in reply. _That man… Who was he? He slaughtered both mom and dad, but he didn't leave any sort of mark to show his presence... _Before they knew it, both girls were standing at Mitsarugi's doorstep. "One moment..." It took the child a few mere seconds to unlock the door with one of her wire needles. They walked inside, and then went upstairs once settled. It was time to go to bed anyway… They didn't need to talk any longer.

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"Uchiha, Sasuke?" Iruka called out in his kind voice. The twelve year old simply raised his hand. The sensei nodded in acknowledgement as he marked a check onto his clipboard. "Urashima, Mitsarugi?" The girl with the long chestnut hair was simply playing with her needles. She just raised a finger, then placed it back down. Acupuncture practice required concentration… _If that is a puncture spot, then if I placed a needle here… They should get a temporary paralyze in that specific area... _Mitsarugi stuck the barbed wire gently into her wrist, then shivered a bit. Her whole arm went numb, but then went back to normal. _Yes, just what I thought… Hm? _

"…So, it is Zeo Faust… Got it. Go sit over there..."

Mitsarugi's blue eyes scanned the new student. She was older looking than the others; she was quite tall and slender, had snow-white hair and had deep brown eyes which took on the shape of an almond. With their shade and color, her eyes had some sort of mystery to them… _I don't trust her. _With that thought still on Mitsarugi's mind, the teenager known as Zeo sat next to the eleven year old. Mitsarugi quickly made the needles disappear from her hands, then wiped some blood off her wrist. "Now… This is Zeo. Zeo Faust. She's just a late graduate… don't worry about it." Iruka had said this while smiling; He was hiding something. Zeo just looked straight ahead at the sensei, her eyes squinted just a bit. You wouldn't have known her eyes were open if you were just glancing at the girl. Her eyes were slanted so much at that point that it was impossible to tell whether those chocolate shaded pools were closed or open. "Now… For teams… The following are on team 7: Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, and Uchiha Sasuke…." The teacher continued to address the teams, then suddenly…

"As for team 11, it consists of Zeo Faust, Urashima Mitsarugi, and…Alona Raye..?"

Nikko and Mitsarugi looked at each other. Great, not only were they separated, but now there are TWO new kids that Mitsarugi had to deal with now?! Damn… _I'll just find their weak spots… Then I'll find out basic information about them. I need to do a bit of research…._ Zeo brushed a few snow-white strands from out of her face. Ah, finally… It was time to start becoming a leaf ninja…

_In the Village of Hidden Mist- 2:30 PM_

"Zeo Faust; She's now a missing-nin."  
  
Niraku tossed her medium-length, charcoal hair over her shoulder. She let out a soft grunt and walked forward to look at the ninja's files, her eyes widening as she did so. "Feh, this kid has some pretty good marks…. So she converted to a Leaf ninja?" As the twenty year old had said this, she pricked her finger while playing idly with a shuriken. She was feigning interest, as hard as it was, but that little act was going to be washed up soon. "Yeah." Replied a hoarse, raspy voice. To the human ear, it would have sounded similar to that of an old man's. But the man wasn't old the least bit. "Got top marks in her class… and yes, she's a leaf ninja now. Probably fled to hide her abilities from everyone… Keh, keh…"   
  
The young female just stood there, neither surprised nor completely emotionless. This Zeo Faust… She sounded like and odd one, indeed. Nonetheless, she was just another –apparently useless- ninja that was to be killed. "Fine. She should be a fun one to waste… Hopefully hard." As she had said this, Niraku hit one of the pressure points in her finger. It sent a pain running up her arm, generating tremors. _Ah… Another spot to hit my 'prey'… perfect. _As quickly as her boss had explained about Zeo, the young hunter-nin jumped out of the room, getting ready for her little chase.

_Watch out… Zeo Faust… Because here I come. _

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The eleven year old known as Mitsarugi sat silently through her seat all throughout the rule-reminders lesson. She knew all the rules like the back of her hand… it's not like SHE needed to know them now. Mitsarugi could only manage a smile as she figured out the puncture places in which would help her greatly in battle. Who said taking those acupuncture classes was stupid? _Let's see… there's a point above the wrist, above the calf, on the side of the neck, in the finger… and somewhere in the forearm... Yes, that sounds about it._ Nikko pushed up her spectacles as she watched her friend. Ever since yesterday, she was always experimenting with puncture points… what was going on?

"Mitsa… what are you doing?" the fourteen year old girl asked in a voice lower than a whisper and had a hint of sternness in it.

Mitsarugi simply replied by holding up a needle. _I know that part, you idiot… _"No, I mean, WHY are you practicing your acupuncture here?" The eleven year old just shrugged. Gah, TWO people didn't need to be hiding things at the same time. There was Iruka-sensei and his fake smiles, trying to avoid talking truthfully about this new girl… Zeo, was it? Now, Mitsa was trying to hide something, too… Goodness, did she not trust her? But, of course, Mitsarugi was the kind of person to hide things… so if she didn't talk, that was a given. Nikko tossed her shoulder-length dirty blonde hair over her shoulder and forced her green eyes to pay attention to Iruka-sensei. _Ah… so… boring… _With that, the fourteen year old bowed her head and stayed very still… so much for listening to Iruka's lessons, huh?

_Konoha- After class; __2:55 PM__—at the park_

 "C-chotto! Chotto matte, Mitsa-chan!"

The eleven year old looked back, only to look at her friend, Nikko. The teenager's hair was messy, her spectacles slipping down the bridge of her nose. "Hai?" Nikko smiled in a somewhat goofy manner to her friend, then stood straight, ignoring her trembling legs. This sight wasn't entirely rare. Nikko would usually get overheated from a long walk, well, she'd get overheated from a walk period. Simply put, that girl wasn't very active.

"I need to talk to you…. About Zeo…"

This last comment struck Mitsarugi like an arrow painfully lodged into her chest. Why had Nikko suddenly felt the need to bring up the new student? She didn't seem too suspicious… yet. The eleven year old simply nodded, encouraging Nikko to go on and elaborate. "Do… you trust her?" Mitsarugi paused at this and gave a hesitant nod, as if to show a mixture of feelings. Well, it was impossible to give a straight out, well thought, honest answer at the moment. Zeo had just arrived in Konoha, well, the classroom at least. She hadn't even had the time to talk to her. "Yes… and no. She just came and I've only gotten a good look at how she looks. I can't really comment on her…"  
  
"…On who?"

Both of the Genins looked in the northwest direction. Their eyes scanned the figure carefully, analyzing the characteristics. There stood Zeo, awaiting a full explanation.

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A/N: Sorry… have to stop here. First of all, 'tis a cliffhanger! Huzzah! And…. I'm kind of waiting on some comments for this… Although I have a good story planned out, this didn't seem like a good chapter to me. If you review… no flames! Thanks!


	2. A Mission

Reveries of Life, Love, and Revenge

A/N: Hrm… It's been…. Three days since I last updated? I'm not sure. Anywho, I plan for there to be a spark of interest in the relationships soon… but the problem is… HOW do I mesh in more and more introductions of people to work with the love-life? For example, I could talk about Alona and Orochimaru… But the problem with that is… Orochimaru isn't anywhere near Konoha (As of now…) and I haven't even introduced Alona, yet Goodness… However, I'll try to bring in some more people… and explain one we have already met.   
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto in any way whatsoever; even though I do wish that I could claim it as mine. However, I cannot, so… yeah.

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Chapter 2: A Mission...

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Zeo stood before the two girls, her right hand resting on her hip. Since when had she arrived…? "Must I repeat my question? About whom were you referring to?" As she had said this, the elder Genin's voice was monotone, emotionless, taking Mitsarugi by surprise. Was this the tone Zeo used every time as she spoke? That'd effect how her personality was taken… Nikko pushed up her -constantly slipping- glasses, then shot a worried look over to the, what appeared to be, paralyzed eleven year old. How were they going to cover up the fact that they, indeed, were talking about the one who was impatiently awaiting answer?   
  
Mitsarugi was the first to speak, her voice, as it had always been, flat. "We were talking about—Argh " The girl was rammed into a tree, her eyes catching someone who had appeared to have golden hair standing in front of her before she temporarily blacked out. It was Naruto. "Mitsa-chaaaan Are you okay? "   
  
Well, that answer was a little obvious, wasn't it?   
  
Before Mitsarugi could return fully to her normal state, a faint, "Dobe…" was heard. Sasuke was there, too…? At last, the youngest Genin returned to normal, although she was just a bit dizzy. _Naruto still is hyper… Well, that was given. Even his training with Jiraiya hasn't forced him to mature the slightest bit. _"Naruto Oh, Mitsa-chan, are you okay?" Ah… So, the trio had come together. That happy, sincere voice had belonged to Sakura. That, of course, was identifiable. To answer her question in a silent manner, the eleven year old simply nodded her head, taking in the features of the three ninjas. Naruto still had the same old straw-colored hair and sea-blue eyes, but his body had certainly gotten bulkier due to his training. That made Mitsarugi wonder; what could Jiraiya possibly do that made Naruto get stronger?   
  
Sakura was the same as she had always been, however, her hair had grown to a length that made the pink locks brush her elbows. Her emerald green eyes were always glowing with happiness nowadays, even though that simply just wasn't a surprise. Sakura had, as it always seemed, done her best to always keep her feelings quite positive, generating a good example for Naruto to follow. Hopefully, as Kakashi had always thought, Sakura's illustration would drown out Naruto's somewhat childish personality, but from the looks of it, that hadn't happened.   
  
Sasuke, of course, had maintained a mysteriously sexy look. His features had barely even changed the slightest bit. However, the boy's body had been relieved of his boyish good looks and were replaced with more adult characteristics. For example, the once scrawny look Sasuke had let on was finished. He was certainly bulky, as was Naruto, from his muscles that were a reasonably large size. Mitsarugi, of course, had noticed his signs of aging, and took them in without a thought. He had certainly grown over the years, but his facial structure had always remained the same… well, maybe not exactly the same. As Sasuke grew, his nose become more prominent, his cheekbones giving his eyes a bit of an upward slant. That was the only feature that would always change, however. "Yes, I'm fine." Was all Mitsarugi could muster as she escaped from her dizzy and dazed state. This, of course, made Sakura smile. Oh, yes. Big forehead girl had smiled. As if in a chain reaction, Mitsarugi smiled to, making Nikko also manage a small smile, Naruto grin after that, and Sasuke smirk. That was all he ever did; smirk. The eleven year old turned back to Zeo, her sapphire blue jewels focusing onto the teenager. "…You, to put it simply."   
  
With that, Zeo simply nodded, then also focused her gaze, but on the child. "Why?" The eleven year old shrugged the comment off, and then jerked her head over to the trio which were standing behind her. They had been listening, although they hadn't the slightest clue of what the girls were talking about. It didn't matter if all three of those Genins knew what the child and the teenager were referring to, though. They'd find out soon enough. "…. I'll talk to you later about that, but, Zeo… I'm sure we're all dying to know about you. Do you mind talking about yourself for awhile? It's not like we have anything better to do.. Well, I don't have anything better to do, that is." The fifteen year old opened her mouth to reply, but the words caught in her throat. Well, she could trust these students, right? Even if those two girls hadn't given a good opinion about her yet, Zeo just felt as if she could talk to this Mitsarugi and her friends... She didn't know why, but she just COULD.

"I don't mind."

As Zeo had said this, her voice was not monotone and emotionless. In fact, it was quite nice sounding, changing Mitsarugi's opinion once more. Almost automatically, the hyper blonde boy, the glasses wearing fourteen year old, the silent protagonist, the crazy pink-haired fangirl, and the youngest ninja went over to different spots and sat as Zeo made her way over to a boulder. White strands of her hair cascaded lightly onto her forehead as a soft breeze let in. Zeo, as it appeared, was a very pretty adolescent. She was quite slender and unlike Sakura, the teenager was somewhat curvy. Her chocolate brown eyes scanned each ninja, examining each of their facial expression. Mitsarugi's expression, however, surprised her. How could I child look so emotionless facial wise and have a personality that didn't follow up that? That, indeed, left Zeo puzzled. "Well, to start off... I'm originally from Mist." Every ninja, except Sasuke, looked up with a surprised expression. "Doesn't that classify you as a missing-nin?" Sakura asked worriedly, her face darkening.

No... Of course not, you smart one. But this was no time for sarcasm...

"Yes, and I'm fully aware of that. However, I'm being registered as a leaf ninja now, so I'll be protected if a hunter-nin comes." Zeo had said all this flatly, as if she hadn't really cared, but her voice contained a hint of sincerity and kindness in it, which made something in Mitsarugi surge. Just then, Kakashi appeared from nowhere, his hand planted on top of Sasuke's head as he used Naruto for an arm rest. "Where did you three go? When you all weren't there, I went frantic..."

"WELL, WE GOT TIRED OF WAITING FOR YOU!"

The fifteen year old ninja known as Zeo winced at this child's gutsy attitude. Yelling at a sensei like that? That was very disrespectful. "Well, I was lost in the gate of time, and..." Naruto made a face at the silver haired Jounin. How stupid did Kakashi take them for? "Yeah yeah, whatever Kakashi-sensei. Now, what mission do we have today?" Nikko and Mitsa perked up at this while looking at Zeo. Zeo had an equally puzzled face on, as if she was wondering, 'What mission?' All three of the girls stood up to go home, but Kakashi simply stood in the way. " This applies to you all, too. We are to protect a fellow ninja know as Alona Raye. She works on the advanced medical unit. There was a recent flooding in the Hidden Village of Mist, so she's out to aid wounded survivors." The white haired Genin twitched. Mist had a flooding? This early? They were just recovering from one they did have too long ago...

" When are we to go on this mission?"

Kakashi looked at Mitsarugi who had said the question. So, the rumors were true. She _did _look like her mother... "Today. The medical unit is issued around four."It was two 'o' clock now, so... They had two hours. That little amount of time would allow Mitsa to get some serious training in... "Alright." was all she said, then the trio walked off. The sensei simply watched as they left the premises.

Sasuke leaned back. Another annoying mission they'd have to complete... and this one would be just as tedious as when they had to protect that bridge-builder. He grunted. And he'd have to do it with those annoying girls.... and Mitsarugi. Mitsarugi hadn't really fazed as a problem to him, considering their past friendship. Only once, had she seriously hurt him... and that wasn't too long ago.

_Flashback_

_A seven year old girl trembled in the corner of an alleyway, a gang of twelve year olds constantly kicking her small body. She didn't react; in fact, she couldn't react. This was Mitsarugi; One of Konoha's nicest ninjas. It was predictable that she wouldn't try and retaliate... and that made Sasuke mad. He stormed over to the gang, his once onyx-shaded eyes were now a crimson shade. That red-ish glow... the... Sharingan..?! _

_"Don't hit her again." _

_At this, each gang member simply laughed maniacally. Sasuke, on the other hand, stood cooly, an agitated expression planted firmly on his face. At that moment, the gang leader stepped forward, smiling. His face was grotesque; it had many infected cuts on it, and being chubby, it was rounded. This caused Mitsarugi to shudder, but Sasuke still remained cool and collected. "And what're you going to do about it?" _

_Mitsarugi smiled weakly as the raven-haired boy took out each gang member with ease, causing the leader to retreat frantically. However, it still didn't change the fact that Sasuke had the sharingan... "Are you alright?" The girl simply nodded and stood, her legs trembling. Yes, her one and only friend had saved her, but... he had the sharingan... the devil skill... so he was related to... "_

_"Sasuke...." _

_The boy looked over at Mitsarugi, his once cool face now converted to a kind one. He knew it was alright to act friendly around this one girl, knowing she had witnessed almost the same thing that involved Itachi. Sasuke shuddered as the man's name even arrived into his mind. While the name 'Mitsarugi' rolled off his tongue like honey, Itachi's name only came out bitterly. He nodded in acknowledgment when his name came out of her mouth and softened his gaze, as if to encourage the child to continue on. Mitsarugi tried her hardest to smile, but couldn't find the strength to. Her muscles tugged and tugged at her mouth, but no sweet smile generated. Sasuke noticed her attempt to grin at him, and simply shook his head, as if to indicate, 'It's alright. There's no need to smile if you can't.' Truthfully, the girl couldn't. Her feelings for Sasuke were torn now... between friendship and hatred... "Sasuke... I can't... be your friend anymore." _

_This last comment caught Sasuke off-guard. He really wasn't expecting that. "...Why?" His tone was slightly irritated, but it had also hinted sadness in it. Why was the world being so cruel to him right now?! "You see... You're related to the person who killed my parents.. I figured that out when your eyes glowed that red color... I don't want to hurt you when I go and stalk that man..." Sasuke's onyx eyes scanned Mitsarugi's very lightly shaded blue ones. They weren't feigning the truth... and that hurt him._

_"Good-bye, Sasuke." was all she said before she walked out of the alleyway and back to her house, her head not even turning to look at the boy once more as she did so._

_End Flashback_

The twelve year old prodigy shuddered at this memory. Why hadn't he forgot it, dammit?! It wasn't like Mitsarugi had ever played a major role in his life. She was just a simple ninja who had witnessed the same experience as he had.

But WHY couldn't her forget that moment?!

She was seriously back to haunt him. When he had thought she had left him for good, and that was a good thing, she just kept reappearing. Damn, Mitsarugi... "Sasuke-kun? What's wrong?" Sasuke's head snapped to the side to look at Sakura. She was, after all, the only one other than Ino who called him by that. "Nothing." With that, he simply pushed the pink-haired girl aside, then walked home to train. _Why can't I get him to notice me..? I've always tried my hardest for him to give me AT LEAST a smile, yet... _

Of course, it was obvious that Sasuke had no intention whatsoever of getting together with Sakura.

Kakashi and Naruto were talking about their training as Sasuke followed behind, Sakura falling in the back. "Now, Naruto, you are NOT to goof off on this certain mission, is that clear?" Kakashi's tone was strict; that effected Naruto by a lot. "I won't goof off Kakashi-sensei! That's a promise!"

But somehow, Kakashi knew Naruto wouldn't be able to keep the promise.

"...Naruto, I trust you, but... Shall I make a reward if you're good? Yes, I will. If you're good for the whole entire mission, Naruto, I'll buy you as much ramen as you want." The fox-demon's ear perked up at this; Kakashi had successfully gotten his attention. "YES! YOU ALL WON'T EVEN KNOW I WAS THERE!" And with that, the sensei and his 'triplets' began walking home, the little blonde boy eager for the two hours to pass.

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A/N: Well, I think this chapter was better than the last one. Eh, I'll probably have the next one up later tonight. This one only took me about an hour or two to make. Ja ne!


	3. Enter! Alona Raye!

Reveries of Life, Love, and Revenge  
  
A/N: Okay… change of plans. My cousin doesn't like Orochimaru anymore. Go figure. Now she's obsessed with Itachi, so… Alona isn't going to be paired with Orochimaru-sama now. She's going to get together with Itachi! Woo hoo? Okay, so, in this chapter, you'll meet someone new. Eh, you've guessed it; Alona. Yes, we finally get to meet that medical ninja... But you're not supposed to know that yet, so hush. Anywho, on with the chapter.  
  
Legal stuff/Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and any way whatsoever… but I do own my Sasuke-kun! Back, you fangirls!  
  
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Chapter 3: Enter! Alona Raye!

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Mitsarugi winced as she continuously pummeled the tree in her backyard, sending surges of pain up her arm. She stopped for a mere moment, trying to stop the trembling in that certain body part as tremors made their way up to her shoulders, then down to her legs. This, of course, caused her legs to then shake. _D-damn… Why am I shaking like this?! I train every day, and yet… My body will never be used to getting stronger and stronger… _As those words she thought chimed in a melodic chorus in her head, she shut her eyes tightly. She'd never be better than Sasuke, and knowing that, she'd never have the strength to kill Itachi.

_It's hopeless.  
  
_The chestnut-haired girl whammed her fist into the tree hard, making her whelp in pain. It wasn't exactly a smart move to have done so, but it calmed her to let all her anger out like that… even if it hurt her, physically. At least she wouldn't have to suffer mentally…   
  
Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto watched the girl from afar. They were on their way to invite Mitsarugi to go have lunch with them at the Ichiraku Ramen, yet… She seemed to be possessed with her training. However, they walked onward. Kakashi HAD told them to try and return with her, after all. "So, Sasuke…" Sakura began, tossing her hot pink hair. It didn't really go anywhere, due to its short length, but it did sway from side to side. "… Are you hungry?" The raven-haired boy simply let out an, "Aa." from his lips, and continued on without another word. Why was this girl so persistent?! He wasn't going to talk to her, as much as her valued her as a team-mate. Yet, she still thought they had a chance at getting together?!

Simply put, there was no logic in thinking that.

"Sakura-chan, are YOU hungry?" The annoying blonde-boy flashed his goofy smile towards the somewhat pretty girl who had an unusual hair color. In a friendly manner, the girl smiled towards Naruto and nodded. Of course she was; they had been told to not eat for two days straight. It was all part of Kakashi's 'ninja diet' or something like that. Whenever they were allowed to eat, they only got a small portion of rice with a little bit of teriyaki. Occasionally, they'd get a bit of sushi, but getting that food with their meal was rare. Kakashi wasn't being mean, he was just… 'Trying out a new thing for ninjas!' as he'd always say. However, their diet was keeping them wide awake, and when they had a nice dinner to eat, the trio could never finish it all. Yet, when eating ramen, that stood as an exception for Naruto. "Are we almost there?" Sakura queried to break the silence, watching Mitsarugi's growing figure. Although the answer to that was obvious, it had broken their completely silent moment, which, of course, relieved both Naruto and Sasuke because they weren't accustomed to the area around them being quiet. Sakura, as it was, was known as the 'Chatterbox', after all. It'd be a shame if she lost her nickname before they could even get a chance to call her it…  
  
"Aa. Her house is right up there…"

The other two ninjas nodded as they stared at a small, pretty white house with green paint on it. Sasuke, of course, immediately recognized this home. He had, as a child, been in it to play with Mitsarugi. The eleven year old had sensed all three of their presence before they had even made their way into the premises. She was, after all, a Urashima child. It was just a gift given to them at birth. It had been a great ability that helped them greatly, and was easy to master. How her parents hadn't sensed Itachi before he came was still a mystery that had to be solved, however… "Yes?" the child shouted in a strained, hurt voice. She was still recovering from her hurt hands, so it was going to make her voice a little shaky from the pain…

The three pairs of eyes bulged; Sasuke's only bulging slightly, however. He had known about this power for years… so it didn't prove as some awesome skill to him. To Naruto and Sakura, however, this simple ability had caused them to be amazed. The blonde haired Genin's mouth was opened wide, causing his somewhat bad breath to fill the area. The raven-haired boy's nose twitched at this stench. Sakura also caught the smell and immediately put one of her hands over his mouth. "Naruto! Did you brush your teeth this morning—Hi Mitsa-chan! We were wondering if you'd like to come with us to lunch. It's Kakashi-sensei's treat." This made the child smile. Well, there wasn't anything edible in her fridge anyway. Just an expired carton of milk (A/N: Oh, doesn't THAT bring back memories…), a block of molded cheese, a half-eaten piece of bologna, and an empty jug of ice tea. She simply nodded in reply, and Sakura noticed this and stopped walking. Naruto and Sasuke looked at the girl awkwardly, then saw the youngest ninja limping over to them. _What the hell was she doing...? _was all Sasuke could think as she made her way over to them. She had, however, made a reputation for pushing herself over her limits. _Well, it doesn't matter. If she's going to kill herself from training to hard, whatever. _

But somehow, something made Sasuke regret saying that.

Naruto and Sakura made their way forward to greet the Genin. As Mitsarugi limped forth, her icy blue eyes examined each of the other kids. While Naruto and Sakura were coming over to her, Sasuke just stood there. This didn't faze Mitsarugi much though. She'd known him for over three years. Knowing him as well as she did, he wouldn't get all happy seeing her again. In fact, he probably wouldn't be happy seeing her period, considering what she had done to him long ago. Even thinking about that made her depressed... but it didn't matter now. As Nikko had once said, "It's all in the past." That was the truth, after all. "Hi... So, Kakashi's taking us out to lunch before the big mission, huh? What rank is the mission, anyway?" After this, Naruto took his eyes off the girl's bandaged hands to make eye contact when he spoke. "Hey, yes, and it's a 'B' mission. We usually don't get that many of those..." Mitsarugi nodded. He was right. They were lucky to even get a 'C' mission at some times. The Hokage just trusted them with 'D' missions... and that was okay. Those missions showed up on their records, and racked up pretty quickly due to their level of difficulty. The eleven year old snapped out of this mission thought, then nodded to Sasuke to say hello. He replied in the same manner; Quiet and without feeling. Sakura noticed this greeting between the two, then pondered to herself, _well, I don't have competition. It doesn't seem like Mitsa-chan likes Sasuke, and vice versa, but... Somehow, I sense one of their act that they're letting on is false. Probably Mitsa's. I mean, every girl likes Sasuke-kun. He IS the cutest and coolest ninja in town. Oh... It'll be so great when I become his girlfriend... which I will. **Inner Sakura: Hell yeah! Love always prevails! I'm going to be that special girl who steals his first kiss... with a girl, that is. **_That day in which Naruto had accidentally kissed Sasuke still haunted her. Oh, that day was horrible...

_Flashback_

_Naruto was sitting on top of the counter in front of Sasuke, glaring. Sasuke was doing the same, their faces inches apart. Why Naruto got so jealous of Sasuke was clearly obvious. He WAS, after all, the number one ninja in town... But he WASN'T going to become Hokage! No no no! That title had already been claimed bye Uzumaki Naruto, the ramen addict! (A/N: You know the small circle things Naruto had in his ramen in the third episode? Well, they call those Naruto! Therefore, Naruto gets his name and his addiction to ramen from that! Go figure!) "Yeah... that's... Oops, sorry." A random ninja had accidentally pushed Naruto in the back... causing Naruto to kiss Sasuke. Sakura simply watched in the back. "I... Naruto... I was supposed to get his first kiss!" And with that, the inflamed pink-haired Genin began pummeling Naruto, not caring whether he got hurt or not at the moment._

"Sakura. Sakura! Come on, we're here."

The other female Genin snapped out of thought as she sat in a chair at the Ichiraku Ramen. How they got there so fast amazed her, but she just figured she was lost in thought before, so they got their at a normal pace without knowing it.

Little did they know that Mitsarugi's advanced bloodline was starting to take effect....

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_Village of Hidden Mist; 2:00 PM_

Niraku's blonde hair rested on her shoulders. Her silver eyes scanned the premises around her, looking for any sudden movements. Even though Zeo and her group were bound to come later, it never hurt to be prepared... "I'll have to be careful," she began muttering to herself in her low, feminine voice. "One pluck at the wrong nerve could cause Zeo to create a hurricane or something..."

And this was true. She had, after all, caused that last flood from being too upset.

"She doesn't know what's going to hit her, though. I have everything planned out.. The traps, the guards, everything. But still, I'll have to take caution, especially by making sure children aren't in the premises when Zeo comes." Niraku paused to take in a deep breath, putting some kunais into her pouch. "They don't need to see the beast in action."

With that, the woman stood on the tree branch she was originally sitting on, and took her position. "I'm ready for you, Zeo, you just have to come..."

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_In Ichiraku Ramen; 2:10 PM_

"So, are you all excited about the mission?" Kakashi asked awkwardly to strike up a conversation. Their seat arrangement surprised him just a bit, it went form Sasuke all the way to their left, then Mitsarugi, then Naruto, then Sakura, and then him. Usually, Sakura would try to sit either close to Sasuke or near him, at least... Something was going on. "Yesh." was what Naruto let escape from his lips. He couldn't have said anything more or less, due to the large amount ramen he had stuffed into his mouth. Kakashi flashed a smile to the sea-blue eyed boy, his eye closing in a way to signify that he was happy at this response. He had, after all, hidden all visible emotions with his mask.

"Is your ramen good, Sasuke-kun?"

The raven-haired boy turned to Mitsarugi, thinking she had been the one who had said the comment. However, she was simply staring at her ramen. Sakura was the one who had commented that, and was beaming towards him. Sasuke simply began eating his miso ramen again, but let out an, "Aa." before he began to 'chow down' again. After all, his voice would sound weird if he had said it with a mouth full of food, and it would be rude.

'Never talk with your mouth full.'

Mitsarugi took her chopsticks and played with the noodles, managing to take a bite. Why had her appetite suddenly disappeared? A few minutes ago, she was starving. But now, she didn't want to even get a glimpse of food. Was it simply because of the ramen? Or was something else triggering this? It didn't really matter now, she was eating. However, it wasn't at a moderate pace. She ate her ramen slowly, as if to act like she was savoring the food. Yet, she wasn't. Sasuke noticed this first, but didn't seem to care. It was her ramen. If she didn't want to eat it, that was fine with him. However, Naruto took this loss of appetite to his advantage. "Mitsa-chan... Do you want your ramen?" Slowly, Mitsarugi shook her head, and opened her mouth to speak.

But Sasuke spoke first.

"Of course she wants her ramen, dobe. She just doesn't want to eat it all now. We have over an hour left to eat. Let her stomach settle... or something."

This last comment struck Mitsarugi by surprise. He cared, all of a sudden...? "No, no, seriously. Go ahead and have my ramen, Naruto-kun. You'll need to eat as much as you can so that you don't get hungry from running around all day. You're very hyper, you know." The last sentence made Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi laugh. Well, it WAS the truth, right? Under her breath, Mitsarugi whispered into Sasuke's ear when the rest of them weren't looking, "Thanks... for trying to save my ramen, Sasuke." Something surged in Mitsarugi when she had said this, but she moved away quickly before Sasuke could reply and handed Naruto her ramen. The raven-haired boy simply stared at the younger girl and snickered, then finished off his lunch.

_ You're welcome?_

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_The Village of Hidden Mist; 3:00 PM_

Kakashi and the six students all sat quietly on a log, once again, Mitsarugi sitting by Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura sitting by each other, and Zeo and Nikko were sitting next to each other. The sensei just stood, awaiting the medical unit.

And they came.

"Oiiii! Kakashi-san! Thanks for accepting this mission." A whole throng of ninjas walked together, one of the medical-ninjas standing out. She was a female with short, curvy long hair with one wavy bang resting on her forehead. To bring out the red-ness in her hair, she had these pretty emerald green eyes. From the look of her slender body, she was probably about fifteen. This estimate was most likely correct. "This is Alona..." The leader of the unit said in his raspy voice, pointing to the red haired girl. "... Did ya tell thanks to Nanji for me? That sensei usually doesn't allow me to borrow her students..." Kakashi nodded, his silver hair sort of bouncing up and down and his head bobbed upward and downward. After a sigh of relief, the leader pushed Alona forward with force, causing her to silently wince. Was he hurting her..?

"Thanks for bringing my team here, Kakashi-san. I'm sure it'll be less of a burden for when we go back to Nanji-sensei."

Her voice was a mixture of low and high, making her tone sound somewhat beautiful. It was as if she had a singing career and practiced constantly, considering the fact that whenever she spoke, she stressed on some words, giving the sentence somewhat of a dramatic effect, and the fact that the words rolled off her tongue so well. Alona... Even her name was beautiful and unique. Well, at least her voice matched the name she was given at birth. "Now, where are my comrades?"

Zeo and Mitsarugi immediately stood, and allowed the girl to examine them. She could tell easily from Mitsarugi's arms with gashes all over them and from Zeo's unusually shaped eyes and hair color that they had an advanced bloodline. This would be an interesting year while learning how to be ninjas...

"Now, ain't that sweet?"

The whole medical unit along with Kakashi and the students looked towards a single tree. There, on a branch, stood a tall and slender –yet muscular– woman with blonde hair and silver eyes. In her hand she carried unusually small shuriken that could easily hit a puncture point, and of course...

... Mitsarugi had noticed this first.

"Well, it's nice to see your little meeting, but... I'm afraid every one of you is going to die here."

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A/N: Well, that ends the third chapter. What is Niraku planning? Is she going to fight them alone, or does she have a little trick up her sleeve?

Your guess is as good as mine.

Anyways, that was a good chapter. I'm liking my little cliffhanger... hehe..


	4. The Bloody Battle! Enter! Delana!

Reveries of Life, Love, and Revenge

A/N: Okay, well, I thought I was going to end the little character show-ups in the last chapter, but after I talked to the person who reviewed my fanfiction... I decided that I'll have another character! You'll meet her in a little bit. Also, in this chapter, I'll be sending in people such as Shikamaru to make relationships start. Oh, and Zeo will only be getting together with Shikamaru now, because the new character is going to get together with Gaara. WARNING: This chapter is intended to include blood and gore along with offensive language in it.

**To Ana (It's late.... I forgot your whole pen-name): Well, here you go! I'm still trying to figure out what your little word means... Even though it IS part of your own vocabulary. **

Legal Stuff/Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto in any way whatsoever. As I have said before, however, I do own Sasuke-kun. Why? Because I like him a lot.

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**Chapter 4: The Bloody ****Battle****! Enter! Delana!**

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The whole area was silent. Even Naruto, who was always hyper and talkative, stood there without whispering a word. Showing off his stupidity, however, the leader of the medical unit broke the silence. "Now, ya gotta be kidding. There's only one of you and twelve of use. You don't stand a cha–" The miniture shuriken in which Niraku was holding between her fingers before was now lodged into the man's throat, not only causing sticky red blood to trickle out of his mouth, but also an instant death. He coughed continuously as if to trying and force the shuriken out of his mouth, but...

It didn't work. Either he'd die from blood loss or from the cold metal stuck in his throat.

Kakashi and the rest of the group stood there in awe. Mitsarugi, of course, was only slightly surprised. The woman was a hunter-nin, no doubt. Her accuracy was off the charts and the speed in which the weapons flew was amazing. It was almost as if... As if Mitsarugi had someone with the same statistical strengths, and finding someone as such was rare. But, this also didn't surprise Mitsarugi too much. The hunter-nin, after all, had appeared to be in her twenties. Someone around that age would have already had much experience, and probably had killed many missing-nins. This had appeared to be the matter for this woman's case. The eleven year old's fingers switched as she gathered her chakra together to make a bundle of barb-wire needles. Within seconds, she had the small, yet long weapons sitting right in her hands. _Well, shall we test how good you are?... Not right now. I need to figure out your weak points.... _

"Oiiiiiiii!"

Every ninja in the premises were quiet, but their heads shot backwards to see who had suddenly screamed. Behind them was Gai and his students, Lee, Neji, and Ten-Ten. Tagging along with them were Shikamaru, Ino, and Chouji. That's when their eyes met. Zeo's chocolate shaded eyes locked onto Shikamaru's dark ones temporarily, but she quickly looked away. There was something a bit different in this ninja than the others... but that was yet to be recognized. "Hehehe... Look! It's Sasuke-kun!" The blonde-haired female pounced onto Sasuke, causing him to twitch. How stupid was she?! Their opponent was standing RIGHT THERE, and she was POUNCING on him? _Idiots.__ The whole lot of them... _was all the raven-haired boy could think before he forcefully pushed the twelve year old off him. This took Ino by surprise, but her eyes were then quickly focused on Niraku. At that moment, she shut up, making no more attempts to make any physical contact with Sasuke. It was time to get serious, and so she did. It was time to show Sasuke what Ino could do.

"Well, if you all are done with your little reunion or whatever... come on out everybody."

On cue, a multitude of hunter-nins came out, including one... rather small one. By the size of the ninja, they had to be a girl... "We won't kill you all now." Niraku said in her low, feminine voice. "I want to toy with you all a bit... Especially you, Zeo. Have you told your little friends about your ability yet?" The area went quiet again, and the smallest hunter-nin snuck out of the area. What was she doing...? "I see you haven't. Well, since you're going to die anyway, they might as well know. Kiddos, this teenager over here... Zeo Faust? She has an advanced bloodline... one of the deadliest of them all. She can control natural disasters based on her emotions."

The white-haired Genin twitched a bit, then bit her tongue to the point in which she almost caused blood to flow. She could've told them herself... "Oh well. It's such a pity that her nice little ability will have to go to waste. Go ahead and kill them now." and with that, the woman situated herself onto the tree branch once more and sat, waiting for the slightest melt down to occur. Saying all that information in front of Zeo's friends had most likely plucked her last nerve. Well... if she used her skills... they'd get to see the horror and tragedy she'd caused before they died. "Zeo.." Mitsarugi had whispered to the fifteen year old in a comforting manner. "It doesn't matter about your abilities, now... Don't let her get to you. Right now, we all need to focus on defeating her, okay?" With a nod, the older ninja got into a ready position, a finger in the hole of her kunai. She threw the weapon, hitting one of the ninja guards in the middle of their neck. Now, knowing body parts as well as Mitsa did, she knew this would also cause a sudden death. And it did. The male hunter-nin fell to the ground with blood oozing out of his mouth and the wound. This sickened Alona a bit, but she managed to stay calm when her stomach jumped. She had never really liked violent scenes, anyway...

Nikko pushed up her spectacles and dodged a shuriken which was flying her way. It had cut the cloth of her shirt by a bit, but she didn't really get any injuries. _Thank goodness for thick clothes... was_ all the fourteen year old could manage to think as she retaliated by throwing one of her weapons at the other ninja. As the cold metal got stuck in the hunter-nin's eye, he whelped out in pain. The metallic weapon was lodged deeply into the man's eye, cutting his cornea up pretty well. Had he survived that attack, the man would have been blinded in that eye for life. However, the shuriken Nikko had thrown hit him with too much force, causing him to die from shock. Well, at least he hadn't died from a bad wound. The adolescent smiled as she watched the man fall, then stopped. As she turned around, she was immediately hit by a mixture of shurikens and kunais...

"Um.... Excuse me."

Zeo and Mitsarugi looked downward at the person who was tugging at Zeo's clothing. They had their kunais raised, but she quickly lifted her hand and moved it in a motion as if to signify her saying, "Put them down..." They looked at the girl quizzically, but did so, allowing her to continue on. The hunter-nin took of her mask, revealing a female's face with violet eyes and black hair. "Listen, I'm here to help you. I'm Delana. That woman over there is Niraku... I disguised myself as a hunter-nin to figure out what Niraku and her boss are planning..." This, of course, was a suspicious. But, Delana was risking a lot to do this little 'role-play', so, they believed her. For now. "Alright Delana... We'll trust you for now. What can you do to help us out?" The small ninja smiled, her violet orbs glimmering with happiness. She took off the black cloak she had worn to disguise her curves, then put her jet-black hair into a pony-tail once more. "Okay. Niraku and his boss plan are working with Orochimaru." This last sentence struck both Mitsarugi and Zeo. But.. Wasn't Orochimaru dead?! "They really aren't going to kill you, you know." This comment was not only directed towards Zeo, but Mitsarugi as well. However, the eleven year old didn't notice that. "They're going to kill or knock your comrades out, then take you to see Orochimaru. He'll use you for some reason... probably for power, but I'm not entirely sure.

The two girls had to admit. Delana WAS giving them some vital information.

"F-fuck you, dammit!" A medical ninja cried out in pain as a fire jutsu scorched his skin, blackening the once pink flesh. However, his skin being burnt wasn't the only thing that was happening to him. Four hunter-nins had ganged up on the poor man, using their kunais to cut open his belly and take out organs. They were about to take out his lungs when... "S-stop it!" Just then, everything stopped. Well, at least for Mitsarugi. Zeo, Delana, even the hunter-nins were frozen. With that, the child walked forth and stuck kunais in each other the opposing ninja's heads. It had taken her by surprise, however, when no blood seeped out of their body parts .

...But as if on cue, the backs of the hunter-nins heads turned red as a thick, crimson liquid substance stained their skin.

"Ah, she's a keeper, too." Niraku commented to herself as she watched out in the distance. Gai and his students were stuck in her first trap. Simply put– They fell into a hole... that had poisonous snakes in it. "Gai-sensei! Shouldn't we just step on these snakes? They don't look harmful." With that, Ten-Ten elbowed the child with the thick eyebrows, sighing dramatically. "Of course not! You don't know whether they're poisonous or not! Besides, if we attack one, the others will come for us, and in this confined space... that wouldn't be good." Lee sighed at this knowledge. Always count on Ten-Ten, the weapon master to knock your thoughts out with a logical explanation of her own. Neji smirked, then continued to waddle carefully away from a snake that had been following him. What was he, some kind of chasing toy?! "HEY!" A familiar voice called. It was Kakashi. "Sasuke is going to throw down a rope now! Sakura and Naruto will pull you up one at a time after you tie the rope around yourself! Me and Sasuke will have to keep guard!" As so, they did the little rescue mission, ending up successful. Gai snarled to himself though, taking in the fact that his RIVAL had saved him and his students, along with Ino, Chouji, and Shikamaru. "How annoying..." was all Shikamaru could mutter after he had gotten out of the 'hell hole', which was what he referred it to.

Delana, Mitsarugi, and Zeo made their way over to a body. A body... that was amazingly familiar. Nikko. The fourteen year old was bleeding non-stop, her spectacles broken, glass shards probably stuck in her eyes from how it looked. Her arms were covered with gashes, and the same went for her legs. However, the wounds on her arms were way more serious.

Every single puncture point had been hit.

"N-Ni.... Nikko..." The eleven year old made her way over to her friend, frantically trying to pull out metallic pieces and other foreign bodies that were stuck into Nikko's skin. At this rate, Nikko was going to die from blood loss. "Move, please.." Mitsarugi didn't even turn her head, but she scooted over. She had only heard this voice once, but almost immediately, she knew Alona was there. It was just easy to tell... "...Hm. She's pretty beat up. I'm sure I can help her, but..." The red-haired teenager paused for a second, biting her bottom lip before speaking once more. "... She needs to be put in a hospital right away. The only problem is.... there isn't a hospital in miles. Nikko needs someone who knows advanced medical jutsus, and I know some like—" Mitsarugi grabbed Alona by her shirt collar, shaking her a bit. "Who?! Well, I don't care who they are, just go get them!" The fifteen year old was still a little dizzy from the forceful physical contact the eleven year old had just made. However, she nodded in reply, then took out a flute and began playing a calming melody that had sounded something similar to a lullaby. _What is she doing...? _It took about fifteen minutes to wait, but a person appeared. The person was a male, that was certain. He had silver hair that was pulled into a pony-tail in the back. But the most attractive thing about the teenager was his onyx-eyes that were gleaming through his circular spectacles. He moved towards the injured girl, but was mainly focused on Alona while he walked forth. "Yes, Alona?" His voice was so nice and sincere sounding that Mitsarugi could have swore it was a fake tone. Nobody could ever to manage a sound such as that. It just wasn't possible.

"This girl's friend is seriously hurt... can you take care of her, Kabuto?"

_So, Kabuto is his name... _The child of the group tried to smile as Kabuto nodded and made his way over to Nikko, working away at her injuries. However, as hard as those muscles tugged, a smile just couldn't appear on her face. "Can you all go somewhere for a bit?" All four of the girls agreed, then left the Genin to do his work.

"He's really nice." Delana commented, redoing her hair into a better braid. Her violet eyes scanned each one of the girls; Zeo was looking rather content, despite all the things that had happened today, Alona was still wearing her rather cheerful expression, but Mitsarugi had looked depressed. It was understandable, though. Her best friend was slaughtered, and as it seemed, the child didn't exactly have a multitude of friends. God, that had to suck. "Yes," Alona finally said in her kind voice to break the silence. "Kabuto is very nice. He never lets someone get hurt, or keep them hurt, for that matter." This last comment that she had said was mainly intended to calm Mitsarugi a bit, and it did. She felt a little more relieved, knowing Nikko was in good hands. "Why did you call.... Kabuto, was it? Yes, well, why did you call him?" Zeo had finally managed to ask, her semi-high pitched voice ringing through the air. "Well... He knows advanced jutsus. His adoptive father was a doctor and taught him everything he knew." That relieved the child even more. Now that she knew Kabuto's father was a doctor, she could trust him completely. There weren't any doubts about letting him be alone with Nikko now.

"I wonder what happened..." Kabuto muttered to himself, a green light emitting from his hand. As he touched Nikko's skin, the deep cuts immediately turned into superficial ones, allowing him to bandage the girl up afterwards. This wasn't a serious 'life-or-death' case, but had Alona stalled any longer... Just then, the fourteen year old twitched as her eyes slowly fluttered open. But they quickly stopped their frantic movements when her blue pupils scanned Kabuto. _He's cute... _"W-who are you..?" The silver Genin examined Nikko carefully, then let, "A friend of Alona's. She called me on behalf of one of your friends to help you out." Nikko paused for a moment, then slowly shook her head. "B-but... who ARE you?" The male ninja smiled, then spoke once more. "Call me Kabuto."

"How long have you known Kabuto, Alona? Oh, and how did you meet him?" The red-haired ninja felt a little uncomfortable being bombarded with questions, but she continued to answer. After all, this was helping Mitsarugi calm down. "Um... Ever since I was about... 6? Um, that's about nine years... and I met him while his dad came over to take a look at my mom. She was seriously sick, and Kabuto came over with his dad for some reason. He probably was examining the process of his fathers work to see what to do in a case like that." Delana smiled, imagining a little boy following his father around to learn how to become a doctor. That was cute little thing to think about, for sure. "Well," Zeo began, a smile planted on her face. "Kabuto can be trusted with Nikko, then."

"K-Kabuto, huh?" Nikko made a disgusted face in a playful manner. "And I thought my name was bad..." Kabuto's ears twitched at this last comment. He'd grown a sudden interest in this girl now, considering he HAD saved her from dying. "Well, what's your horrible name?" The Genins both smiled at the same time, and also, as oddly as it seemed, they pushed up their spectacles. "It's Nikko! So, well, I guess I better introduce my self properly... I'm Nikko, at your mercy!" At this, Kabuto began laughing, as did Nikko. They were going to get along well, that was for sure. He bandaged up the remainder of cuts, then put away his medical supplies. The ninjas smiled at each other, and both of them stood, heading towards Alona and her friends whom were huddled in a little area not too far away. Unbeknownst the Nikko, however... The smiles Kabuto were giving to her were fake, along with the facade he wore...

"Hey, look!" Delana pointed happily to Kabuto and Nikko, smiling. God, was she hyper... in a good way. Seeing the two ninjas made Mitsarugi happier than she had felt a little while ago. She stood along with Zeo, Alona, and Delana, then walked over to male and female ninjas. "Feeling better, Nikko?" the eleven year old queried, smiling grandly. Her icy blue eyes were filled with excitement, and that was visible. Just like Delana, her eyes were the place to look if you wanted to figure out her current emotions. There were some good and bad points about that, but when she was happy, Mitsarugi wanted the whole world to know.

And she wouldn't care.

"Yeah, all thanks to Kabuto." Nikko smiled at the silver haired Genin, and he also did so. However, he had to leave sooner or later. "Alona, I have to go finish my work at home. Make sure you get plenty of rest, Nikko, and don't strain yourself too much while fighting. In fact, when you get back, tell your sensei that you'll be unable to do anything for about a week. Just show her your bandages to clear it all out." And with that, Kabuto turned and left the girls on their own. "Ah... He's pretty cool... Hey! Look! It's Kakashi and Gai-sensei!" All five girls ran over to the teachers, explaining what happened to them with details. Of course, the two senseis understood.

"Well, we're glad you're okay, Nikko. Now, let's all go get some ramen!"

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A/N: Yeah, that was kind of icky. Don't blame me, there really wasn't that much to write about... but I promise the next one will be better. Hopefully I can start relationships soon…. Although Alona can't meet Itachi yet, so the couples won't be completed for awhile. Zeo and Shikamaru will most likely get together soon, and the same for Mitsarugi and Sasuke…. But not TOO soon. I mean, we ARE dealing with the famous Sasuke Uchiha here.

**To Ana: **There's Delana for you! I hope you like her!

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	5. Sheath your claws, Sandy Boy!

Reveries of Life, Love, and Revenge  
  
A/N: I'm so sorry for the long delay. There also might be another downside, too… School is coming up in two weeks, and I have a project I need to finish. I shall try to get at least two or three more chapters in before school, maybe even more, then have to delay the stories progress for awhile. Don't think I won't continue to update, though. I'll work on chapters bit by bit during the school year. Maybe that'll occupy me and keep me alive during my first year of middle school, ne? Okay, now back to the basics and such. In this chapter, they'll be some hinted relationships, not clearly identified ones, though. You'll see bits and pieces of Zeo and Shikamaru's 'relationship' mainly in this one. But I also have to try to fit in something between Gaara and Delana… oh, the agony. Oh well, I'll find a way. Okay, and… as far as Nikko and Kabuto go? Well, they'll keep having their relationship moving along smoothly; I'll have both of them in this chapter, too.

**Kuragekido: **Thanks for the heads up. I can't deny that many Naruto fans don't, indeed, like original characters. But I'm not one of those fans. I find original characters quite interesting in any anime; Naruto especially. You read fictions to your discretion. If you don't like fictions with original characters, don't read the fiction. Simply put.  
  
**Anna: **I'm glad you're happy! I sort of had to imagine how you'd want Delana to act, and I assumed you'd be the type of person who went for the hyper-ish character. I laughed at Nikko's quote, too. Besides Delana, she's pretty much the funny one of the group. It's nice to know that my intentions of making people feel certain ways about characters is being carried out smoothly. Thanks for updating!  
  
Quick note and disclaimer: The chapter may contain grotesque content and/or offensive language. 'Reader discretion is advised'. I do not own Naruto in any way whatsoever. I just own Sasuke and Kiba.  
  
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Chapter 5: Sheath your claws,  
Sandy-boy!  
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Nikko and Alona were unable to attend the little meeting at the ramen shop. Nikko could barely move her body, really, in her current condition. Kabuto had only really made the cuts seal up, not heal the numbness and aching of her wounds. Everyone else was in fine condition, however, with merely a few gashes here and there. Alona just… couldn't make it, do to her parents and their curfew. Kakashi had been the one whom took the responsibility of taking Nikko home.

"K-sensei."  
  
The silver haired Jounin peered curiously at the spectacled female in the corner of his eye. Letting out a slight nod, he silently urged her to continue on. "Do you happen to know… if a ninja named Kabuto is in cahoots with that hunter-nin lady?" At this, Kakashi made a slight face. Kabuto was there? He honestly thought someone had hit Nikko's head a little too hard back there. Kabuto hadn't made an appearance in Konoha ever since the last Chuunin exam. There seemed to be no point in him coming back; unless Orochimaru was up to something. But then again, even if Orochimaru was plotting something in that sick mind of his, why would Kabuto leave his boss's side just to go to a scene that had nothing to do with him? It just didn't make sense. "I know of Kabuto. But he's not working with the hunter-nin." In all honestly, this had eased Nikko's nerves a bit. Right when she had seen the teenager, he seemed a little suspicious to her. His semblance, the aura that he left off… it just made it seem like he was misleading her somehow, in some way. "Alright." Was all the adolescent replied simply, pushing up her ever-so circular glasses up the bridge of her nose.  
  
If only she knew. No, really knew. Kabuto… wasn't the person she thought him to be.  
  
But nonetheless, her mind still focused on identifying the good points about him. And she'd still continue to analyze those good traits. She'd have to, being as since he was coming over for a check-up, she'd have to know how to act. Kind or not, this… Kabuto, was still technically a stranger. She had to keep her guard up. As Nikko lied idly in her bed, thoughts bombarded every corner of her mind. Who was Kabuto generally? Why did he appear? Furthermore, why did he appear to her? She'd have to ask him to clear everything up when he came for her checkup. This, really, was all too confusing. If only she knew that if she considered THIS predicament confusing, figuring out Kabuto would be ten times more confusing in magnitude.  
  
"I see you're resting, Nikko. Mind scooting over so I can look you over?"  
  
That voice. His voice. She'd recognize it anywhere now. "Aa, sure, Kabuto-san." Nikko's bright, warm smile had found its way back onto her fine face. The lamp's faint light had been turned on high enough just to enlighten her facial structure, and the male adolescent had noticed her smile.  
  
Damn. She was almost as good as him in this little game of disguising themselves.  
  
---  
  
Everyone was pretty much at the ramen shop, now. The straw haired Uzumaki was already on his fifth bowl of ramen, irking Kakashi quite much as he imagined how large the bill would be. Let's see, if that's about ten dollars for a bowl of ramen… And Naruto is on his fifth bowl, and still going at it, that means that's about fifty dollars of ramen worth for him…. Really now. Imagine that; a bill going to be over fifty dollars for one person. ONE person. That's ridiculous, no? I guess Naruto will have to put, 'A great ramen eater' on his resume when he needs a job, ne? Sakura and Ino had been annoying Sasuke, as usual, switching back from eating their ramen to pestering him about a date or something.  
  
Are fangirls really that hopeful?  
  
As for Zeo, she was quietly eating her ramen, Shikamaru sitting to the right of her and Delana on her left. The fourteen year old really knew how to keep yapping, that was for sure. But it was okay as she rambled on, if you thought that. Because the information she was giving was valuable. Really, it never really fazed anyone that an average person would consider Delana a 'nuisance'. Whilst eating her ramen, Zeo's arm accidentally bumped into Shikamaru's. She turned to face him, "Oh, I'm sorry."  
  
And yet again, just like on the mission, their eyes met.  
  
Now, don't consider the two ninjas romanticists or anything. They were just… looking at each other, right? When someone talks to you, you're supposed to look at them, thus initiating eye contact, right? Right? The young Nara simply shrugged it off and scowled, "Whatever." Zeo had taken the last comment as a valid reply, then turned back to Delana, who wasn't yapping anymore. Instead, she was looking at a trio. Well, another trio, that is. Like the usually pairings of ninja teams, there were two boys and a girl. The girl carried around a quite large fan, and wore a dress. Her straw-colored hair was put up in multi-pony tails, making her hair style quite… interesting. One of the boys was sort of cloaked, purple face-painting hiding his true facial structure. Because of this, you couldn't really see what he looked like generally. On his back, he carried a wrapped up puppet. This, clearly, identified him as a puppeteer.  
  
The last boy appeared much younger than the other two. He had oddly colored hair, which took on a blood red shade. Just like Sakura's pink hair, you don't see a shade so unique very often. His eyes showed obvious signs of insomnia, judging by the thick black outlining around them. His lime green eyes lacked showing his pupils; in all, he was quite frightening looking. Sasuke had seemed to recognize this boy all too well, really, which pretty much struck everyone by surprise a bit. 'Everyone' was pretty much made up of Alona and Delana. Had Nikko been there, this would have also surprised her, too. The blonde girl had led her two brothers to the cashier. They weren't to make any contact with the leaf ninjas, except the Hokage. "C'mon, Gaara. Don't pay attention to that Naruto-kid or Uchiha boy."  
  
Delana's eyes were still focused on Gaara. _So, his name is Gaara, huh? _Now, the sand ninja had fully ignored his older brother's comment. Such was the nature of Sabakuno Gaara. In all honesty, he had never really considered his 'brother' or 'sister' his siblings. They were just beings wasting up air. But then again, one must realize that Gaara considers practically everyone on this planets beings that waste air. He's just like that. The blonde had turned to the boy behind her, "Kankuro, let him look at his rivals." Twitch, twitch. Rivals? Pah. Kankuro merely shrugged, "Alright, but if he starts acting up, Temari…"  
  
"He won't."  
  
Taking that as a valid answer, the foreign ninja shrugged. Gaara's eyes had been piercing Sasuke's dark ones for quite a long time now. "And what are you doing back here?" was all the Uchiha asked, quite on an agitated note. Mitsarugi, who had been sitting next to the Uchiha, had known about the mishaps including Gaara and Sasuke. This tone of voice that was being used didn't seem all too strange to her. Kankuro's eyes had slowly drifted over to Gaara, awaiting his response. To his surprise, his brother did not speak. No, he didn't speak.  
  
He did.  
  
And by along the terms of did, I mean, put forth something in action. The youngest Sabakuno's hands had made their way to the top of his sand gourd, thus initiating panic in Kankuro. Sasuke had been ready, his hand near the shuriken holster. But before any action could really start, and sand had began to make its way out of the oversized jar…  
  
"Sheath your claws, Sandy-boy!"  
  
---  
  
Kabuto was rewrapping Nikko's wounds. The superficial cuts had seemed to have gotten slightly better, but they were still infected from the dirt that had made its way in. Her condition had seemed to have improved greatly, but nonetheless, she still wouldn't be able to move for awhile. Any idiot could see that. Although he had made it so that she wouldn't get gang-green and have to have a body part amputated, she'd still suffer from aches, pains, and continuous surges of numbness. The silver-haired Genin poured some ointment onto an open wound, causing Nikko to take in a sharp breath.  
  
"Sorry."  
  
To that, a barely audible, "It's okay." made its way to Kabuto's ears. It appeared as if the pain killers he'd given her earlier were kicking in. She sounded drowsy. "Hey, Kabuto-san…" Nikko began, yawning slightly. No, Nikko, keep awake! His onyx eyes bore their gaze onto her's, prompting her to continue. "Back out there, with that hunter-nin person and all… How'd you know where to find me? I don't remember you being there originally." Kabuto tugged at a bandage a bit, then tied it so that it stuck together properly. "Alona, the girl from the medical team, called me with her flute. It's a communication thing, you should ask her to explain it. I can't all that well." The spectacled fourteen year old nodded, then didn't press the matter on that question much. She pretty much had an idea why he came to her now. Alona called him to fix her up, he came, Alona led everyone away, and then she woke up while Kabuto was helping her out. That seemed pretty logical and simple enough for an explanation. She'd ask Alona later how she used her flute to call Kabuto, though. That seemed a little strange. Now it was Kabuto's turn to take in a sharp breath as he examined her stomach. There was a gaping wound that reached up from her breasts to her lower abdomen. In width, it was similar to the width on your index-finger, middle-finger, and ring-finger put together. She had to have gotten that after a hunter-nin hit her with a fumma. "Where'd you get that?" the Yakushi questioned quite seriously, his face somewhat grim although he knew he could fix this. A shrug was the only given response for that. His hands had worked away furiously at the wound. She had to stay awake, really, for him to see when her expression wavered from pain.  
  
And with the pain medicine trying to submit her into slumber, it only made the situation more complicated and difficult.  
  
---  
  
The whole ramen shop quieted at this last comment from Delana. What struck Gaara by surprise was how a **girl **had gotten so **bold **as to **yell **at **him **with a **nickname**. Never in his life had he met someone with such stupidity. Or maybe the right word to put there is guts. Honestly, he didn't really know at the moment. The young Sabakuno's eyes removed their piercing gaze away from Sasuke, and over to Delana. That gaze didn't waver the slightest bit, and Delana returned the gaze. It was as if **she **was challenging **him**. Now this girl really did seem a mixture of both. Gutsy and stupid.  
  
But automatically, he placed the top back onto his gourd. Temari had noted this. She knew the girl couldn't have had any effect on her brother. Yet, she did. Temari just didn't realize it. She simply thought that Gaara didn't want to waste his breath on making a big scene. But nonetheless, the answer to his ceased assault was Delana, and he knew it. It would just take him a long time to care. Mitsarugi was a little surprised at how Delana acted, too. Gaara, Gaara of the Sand was a Sand beast. He was a demon himself, and most people… well, pretty much feared him. The only people she knew who didn't fear Gaara were herself, Sasuke, Naruto, Rock Lee, and, well… Delana, now. That's not a lot of people.  
  
Kakashi had already escorted Temari and Kankuro to the entrance of the ramen shop. Gaara followed behind quietly. _'Sandy-boy', huh? _Was pretty much the only thought that was running through the blood-haired sand ninja at the moment. This single thought struck him by surprise yet again. Rarely did he ever ponder upon such matters. This was getting ridiculous. _… She's next on my hit list. _  
  
There we go, now the old Gaara is back.  
  
_….But there's three more people before her. Hopefully she's patient. _Well, technically that was the truth. First there was Uchiha Sasuke, then Rock Lee, then Uzumaki Naruto, and now this… girl. He'd ask for her name later.

---  
  
Back at the ramen shop, everyone was talking yet again. As usual, Sakura and Ino were bitching over Sasuke while Mitsa watched in an amused manner, Delana continued talking to Zeo, Naruto was finishing on up his –Fifteenth one, mind you- bowl of ramen, and Shikamaru, of course, was continuing to scowl at the ludicrous site of Ino and Sakura. A few audible, "How troublesome…" sentences were made out of his mouths as the two fought.  
  
"Sasuke-kun, you're going to walk ME home, right?"  
__  
"Oh hush, Ino-pig-chan! Sasuke-kun is taking ME home!" Oh, how amusing fan girl fights were. But Mitsa knew that they were backing Sasuke into a corner right now. He'd eventually end up taking someone home; most likely Sakura. So, doing something that wasn't quite… unusual for her, she spoke up. "He's walking me home, Sakura-chan, Ino-chan. We live closer together than you two do, anyway." Sasuke blinked, considering his options. If he agreed to that, the two crazy fangirls would leave him alone. If he disagreed, they'd continue to bitch over the topic. If he did nothing, they'd assume Mitsarugi was lying, then continue to bitch him anyway. So he went with the first choice, a smirk planted on his face. "Yeah. I'm walking Mitsa home."  
  
Both of the girls' faces fell. To Sasuke, this sight was better than… better than beating Naruto. And we ALL know how great a victory from Naruto is to Sasuke. Gai had finally spoke up, telling the Genins to hush, "Yosh, young pupils! It's time for you all to go home, so get going! Train well from tomorrows training! You'll each be given a new mission in the morning!" A loud GROAN filled the room. "Well, it's nice to know you all sound so enthusiastic! Konbonwa!"  
  
Silently getting up to keep their act going, Mitsarugi and Sasuke exited the ramen shop together, leaving… well…. Two quite jealous fangirls behind. Ino had dragged Shikamaru away; I guess she needed someone to bother when she walked home? Naruto had managed to get Sakura to agree for him to walk her home, and Delana and Zeo… Well, they went their ways. If you're ever so curious about what's happening, I'll answer that simply. The walk home between Mitsarugi and Sasuke is quiet, Ino is yapping Shikamaru's head of, and… well… Naruto is trying to get close to Sakura. Either way, they all ended up getting home eventually.  
  
--- 

"I think you'll need stitches for the cut on your stomach, Nikko. Call Tsunade-sama and ask her if she could make a house appointment; I'm sure she can stitch up your cut." He pushed up his glasses, then pushed Nikko's up too, smiling genuinely. Nikko weakly smiled back because… well… she's in pain and she's tired. "Arigatou, Kabuto-san." She said drowsily, continuing to look up at the silver-haired medical ninja. He nodded, gave a slight wave, then hopped out her window. (A/N: Let's just say her window was open, shall we? He needed a way to get in firstly, right?)  
  
Nikko just looked at the window, then reached over to her phone. She did exactly what was ordered; Call Tsunade. She would be able to stitch up her cut, of course, but in two days. She needed a day to get supplies ready and such. After hearing this, she hung up, then called Mitsarugi, who answered ever-so quickly. "Urashima residence."  
  
"Hey, Mitsa-chan. It's Nikko."  
  
Mitsa made a face, processing that through her brain. Wasn't Nikko supposed to be asleep by now? Oh well, as long as she's feeling good… "Hey, Nikk. How are you feeling?" she asked simply, her voice a little raspy. She was tired. It was about nine-thirty now; who wouldn't be sleepy? "Fine… Um, can you tell K-sensei that I'll be out longer for a week? I'm getting stitches." This comment, of course, didn't strike Mitsarugi by surprise. She had seen her condition on the battle field; it wasn't pretty. "Can do. Now, you, get to bed. I have to go to sleep anyway, we're getting missions tomorrow."  
  
"Alright. See you later, Mitsa-chan."  
  
"G'night, Nikk." With a single click, Mitsarugi had hung up the phone, then wandered upstairs and drifted off to sleep in her bed. Nikko, of course, had done the same.  
  
---  
  
The following day was pretty boring. In the beginning, at least. Everyone had arrived at the forest clearing, all having their exact same personalities pretty much. Kakashi and Gai were leaning on trees, as if waiting for something. Naruto, of course, was getting impatient. "Anou sa, anou sa! Kakashi-sensei! What are our missions already?!" The Jounin twitched a bit at the fox-demon's antics. True, he had learned to adapt to Naruto's personality, but eventually… it just got annoying, really. Mitsarugi had informed Kakashi about Nikko's position earlier, and was now talking with Delana. Alona and Zeo sat quietly on rocks. As if on cue, Tsunade entered the area, her face… quite grim, actually. She was clasping onto her Hokage necklace quite tightly, as she always did when upset or afraid, then turned to the two Jounins. "We need to talk. I'll give the Genins their mission in a bit."  
  
Wait. Mission? What happened to mission'**s**'?  
  
Annoying Naruto's newfound excited personality of the missions, the other Genins continued to sit and wait. Mitsarugi's ears twitched a bit, though. Since sound traveled in waves through the air, she could hear a conversation from far, far away. Thus, she listened to the conversation between Tsunade and the others:  
  
"I'm sure you remember that Orochimaru left us alone after the Chuunin exam mishap, due to the fact that I became Hokage. He couldn't risk endangering himself."  
  
At this, Gai and Kakashi nodded. They knew of this. This also explained why Kabuto's visits in Konoha had decreased in numbers dramatically. "Well, I have some news. This news… has something to do with the kids' new mission." Mitsarugi continued to listen from the distance now. Tsunade sounded so calm, but had she actually been there, maybe she would have seen Tsunade's grim expression that was planted onto her face.  
  
For Tsunade, she always looked so cheerful, so happy… so you could easily tell that something was wrong if her face had expressed any other emotion than that. Kakashi looked seriously at the Hokage in the corner of his eye, as Gai did the same. "Well…" the blonde began, tightening the grip on her Hokage necklace, then letting it go. Her eyes scanned the two Jounins, as her face lost its upset expression.  
  
"Orochimaru is back. And the kids… they'll have to go investigate."  
  
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A/N: UGH I feel so icky. This chapter was so 'ker-bleh' that it's not funny. And yet, the plot thickens… Okay! Now, prepare for fluff around… um… chapter ten or so with Zeo and Shikamaru. And prepare for a hook-up between Mitsa and Sasuke around then, too. I'm quite cheery today, so I might make another chapter later tonight!  
  
**To Anna: **Okay, I think you've basically just gotten your character's beginning 'relationship' with Gaara, really. Do realize that I won't be able to get them together until about chapter twelve, or so, being as… He's Sabakuno Gaara. I don't think Delana will get together with him very very quickly; I think you know what I mean.  
  
**Preview of the next chapter: **_"Orochimaru's back?!" Gai almost screamed, but kept his voice hushed so the Genins couldn't hear him. This shouldn't have been a big surprise, really. As long as Orochimaru was alive, there would still be inevitable and imminent attempts to get all of the Ninja countries at war. Mitsa's ears twitched continuously. Zeo's chocolate brown eyes gazed at the child, as did Alona's emerald green ones.  
  
"What's wrong, Mitsa?"  
  
Alona's voice rang through Mitsa's ears, catching her attention immediately. Her sentence brought the eleven year old back to reality. "Well, let me put this simply…" Sasuke and Sakura looked over at the trio curiously, Ino bitching to Shikamaru and Naruto… well, being Naruto. Mitsa tossed her hair to the side, then dropped her voice to a whisper.  
  
"Orochimaru is back."  
  
_Okay, and now…. I'll leave you all hanging with something to think about. Hopefully I gave you a nice long chapter to occupy yourself with…? 'Till next time… _Mada__ mada, dane… _


	6. Ones Who Must Be Protected

Reveries of Life, Love, and Revenge  
  
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A/N: Okay… Maybe I didn't update last night. I blame drowsiness. I'm forcing myself to get to chapter ten so I can hook Mitsa and Sasuke up before the school year! What's troubling me with that is… HOW do I do it? Ack, I'll figure out the Shikamaru and Zeo fluff, but… that's just irking me. Oh well, I'll figure it out later. Niraku shall make another minor or major appearance in the chapter; I haven't decided which. Um… There are going to be little… heart-warming moments in this chapter, being as I'm tired, and when I'm tired, I tend to get all sympathetic and such. I have a little plan set out anyway. If Shikamaru and Zeo get fluff on chapter ten, they need to get close, ne? And if Mitsa and Sasuke actually get together… meaning… they need to have initial physical contact (You KNOW what I'm talking about), so something has to start. This ALL has to happen before the tenth chapter. Ugh, I hate myself for planning ahead before I actually make the chapters. (--;) Um… prepare for sappy moments, little apologies, and some gruesome little scenes I guess. Oh! And you all shall meet Nanji; Mitsa's, Alona's, and Zeo's sensei! Oh, and… There's a scene between Gaara and Delana, too. Ugh, this'll be a long chapter. (--;)  
  
**To Anna: **There's your review. And right after I update, too. I can almost always an update from you, hun. Okay, I'm not worried. I figured you were reformatting your computer or something or the sort.  
  
Warning and disclaimer: This chapter may include grotesque content and/or offensive language. Also, this chapter is intended to be mildly fluffy. If you have something against fluff or something along the lines of, please refrain from reading this chapter or when you happen to come to the portion of the chapter with that, simply skip over it. I shall try my best to give you an idea of what happened if they speak about anything important. (This most likely will happen, unfortunately…) Oh, and I do not own Naruto in any way whatsoever. I just really, really like Sasuke and Kiba. Therefore I own them.  
  
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Chapter 6: Ones Who Must Be

Protected

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"Orochimaru's back?!" Gai almost screamed, but kept his voice hushed so the Genins couldn't hear him. This shouldn't have been a big surprise, really. As long as Orochimaru was alive, there would still be inevitable and imminent attempts to get all of the Ninja countries at war. Mitsa's ears twitched continuously. Zeo's chocolate brown eyes gazed at the child, as did Alona's emerald green ones.  
  
"What's wrong, Mitsa?"  
  
Alona's voice rang through Mitsarugi's ears, catching her attention immediately. Her sentence brought the eleven year old back to reality. "Well, let me put this simply…" Sasuke and Sakura looked over at the trio curiously, Ino bitching to Shikamaru, and Naruto… well, being Naruto. Mitsa tossed her hair to the side, then dropped her voice to a whisper.  
  
"Orochimaru is back."  
  
At this, Alona and Zeo kept their face neutral. They wouldn't make a big deal out of this. They couldn't. Besides, there was a likely chance that they'd find out eventually anyway. Alona fiddled with a strand of her red hair idly while Kakashi, Gai, and Tsunade made their way back to the clearing. The blonde haired woman wore a serious facial expression, and her Hokage necklace moved a bit over her –quite large- chest. Kakashi and Gai followed ever-so slowly behind, their faces lacking the ability to offer and expression. "Okay, everyone." Tsunade began, focusing her gaze on all eight rookie ninjas. (A/N: Yes. Eight. Delana isn't currently here for a reason…) Oh, how would she do this? She couldn't put them into teams of three, that wouldn't be fair. Because then there would be two teams of three and one team of two. That wouldn't work.  
  
Wait. What about four teams of two?  
  
"I'm not going to beat around the bush. Orochimaru is back, and you all are the selected ninjas that are to go investigate his current… condition, I guess." She nodded slightly, then continued to bear her gaze on the kids. "Since there's eight of you, I'll put you into partners." Kakashi and Gai looked at Tsunade. Why not just make two teams of four, hmm? That'd increase their chance of SURVIVAL. But it is not wise to question a Hokage's decision. "Sakura, I'd like for you to go with Alona. Naruto, you go with Ino.--" A loud grunt was heard at that. Apparently, Ino didn't seem fond of this 'pairing'. She flailed her arms a bit in annoyance, then just gave up. NEVER yell at Tsunade-sama. "Mitsa, you and Sasuke are to be partners." Two shrugs were seen at that. "And Zeo, that leaves you with Shikamaru." Zeo glanced at Shikamaru, who had let out a, "How troublesome…" He seemed so lazy. So ignorant. But Zeo… was used to people like that, so she'd adapt to him just fine.  
  
Alona had no objection to her pairing. She had nothing against Sakura, really. The same thing applied for Mitsa and Sasuke. To Sasuke, Mitsarugi was tolerable and vice versa. They'd be just doing a mission, nothing more. Tsunade nodded, seeing as nobody had any objections. "Alright. You all are dismissed. You all know that he's in Sound village, so it's your job to go, get information, then come back immediately. In fact, even if you don't get information in these five days that you are given, report back anyway. I'm not taking risks. If any problem occurs, and persists, meaning if you get caught by a sound ninja, I want one partner to return Konoha to get help. Is that understood?" Sakura gulped before she joined everyone in nodding. "Alright then…" The blonde said, moving some blonde strands of hair from out of her face. "Good luck." (A/N: I'm going to not focus on Sakura/Alona and Naruto/Ino right now. They will come back in later, but not now. I'm itching to get some random fluff started so I won't have to worry about having it in the next chapter. And we all know that Orochimaru is after Zeo and Mitsa. So let's focus on them, ne?)

---  
  
_In the woods, in some random cave miles and miles away from Sound village; __9:00 PM__  
  
It's raining… _Mitsa idly sat against the rock wall of the cave. Her hair was drenched, the chestnut locks now turned into dark brown compacted individual strands. In all honesty, she didn't like the rain. Fortunately, there wasn't any thunder or lightening. Otherwise she'd be screaming. Mitsa had a phobia against storms generally, but rain was something she merely didn't like. It wasn't as if she despised it or anything. Sasuke was out trying to find some wood to start a fire. Oh, right. That's another thing. Mitsa hated the dark. How wonderful, two things she hated in one day.

In a few minutes, the raven haired boy had made his way back to the cave with some wood. He worked away at a fire, slightly getting frustrated. The young female ninja rolled her eyes, placed her hands over his, then began the make the fire properly. "You aren't doing it correctly, Sasuke…" she whispered agitatedly, trying to blow on the fire to get it going. Sasuke grunted. "You haven't changed. Still have to be the one who does everything right, huh?"

---  
  
_In another random cave; around __9:35 PM___

She had caused the rain. And he knew she had. He had said something that upset her so much, she just started to cry. He hadn't known he had upset her to a certain extent until the droplets had actually begun to fall. Shikamaru had hurt Zeo, unintentional or not. So now he was here, cradling the girl in his arms, trying not to scowl. To him, this seemed…. A little awkward. Here he was, being affectionate to an older girl. To him, this seemed strange. To him, this was a new emotion. And yet, Shikamaru didn't care, really.  
  
Zeo had obviously been thinking the same thing. But she still rested in his embrace, allowing his chin to rest on her head. The boy who was holding her stared idly out at the rain, counting the raindrops that fell. Of course, he wouldn't get an accurate amount. It just kept falling. His jacket was laid on the girl's shoulder to keep her warmer. As if it wasn't cold enough in the cave generally, the rain just made the temperature even more. Shikamaru had been on autopilot when he gave her his jacket, really. Right when he felt her shiver… the jacket was on. Really he didn't know what was running through his brain right now. "So Orochimaru's after you, Zeo?" Shikamaru asked, annoyance stripped from his voice.  
  
"Yeah…"

Shikamaru twitched slightly at this. No, he didn't like-like Zeo. He simply cared about her as a teammate right now. Now he knew he'd have to protect her. Whether he liked it, or not.  
  
---  
  
Mitsarugi smiled slightly at the Uchiha's comment. "I guess so…" The fire had started, enlightening her facial characteristics. Sasuke took this as the time to see how she'd grown and what changed. He looked at her eyes; they were different. Her cheekbones had given them more of an upwards slant, and their original soft blue color had turned to more of and icy aqua shade. Her hair had grown longer, no doubt. When he remembered seeing her last, she had shoulder length hair. Now, let's put this simply. She sure as hell had hair longer than should length. Everything else pretty much was the same facial wise; the bandage on the cheek, the small scar near her lip which she had gotten from having shuriken practice with him when she was five… Yes, nothing else had changed.  
  
"You _guess _so?" He continued a little playfully with a smirk. This took Mitsarugi by surprise slightly. Sasuke's acting playful? Looks like the world's stopped revolving. But nonetheless, she continued to play, too. "Alright, alright. I know I'm still the same." She replied, using her trademark eye-roll and quirked brow. Mitsarugi then continued, "I guess I'll have to change, then. Besides, when I have to do everything perfectly, people get annoyed." The eleven year old poked the fire with a stick, ignoring some raindrops that –somehow- had managed to get inside the cave. As the water droplets inched down her skin, the raven haired boy looked away. _No… _  
  
"Hey, Mitsa?"  
  
She looked over, "Mm-hmm?" Sasuke looked back over, shifting his gaze towards the chestnut-haired leaf kunoichi. "Don't…" Mitsarugi blinked. What was he saying? "…. Poke the fire too much." Oh. Okay. There we go. She gave a slight nod, then put the stick down. "Okay…" The conversation thus ended, and Mitsarugi hugged her knees from being cold. Although the heat from the fire was keeping the two ninjas warm, then rain cancelled out the heat which radiated. Rain drops continued to fall, and they still continued to trickle down Mitsarugi's face. She shivered slightly, then adjusted her position where she was sitting. Sasuke gave a quick glance over to his former 'friend', then hoisted her up onto his lap. This, indeed, slightly surprised her, and she just got even more surprised when he wrapped his arms loosely around her mid-waist. "Calm down, this is just to keep us from freezing to death." Oh. Fun.

However, had she been listening closely, she would have listened past the slight irritation in his voice and heard the amusement.  
  
---

Zeo had eased down a bit, while Shikamaru's grip had slowly tightened. All this was new to him, really. But only slightly. He had seen the way Ino gawked over Sasuke previously, so he had the idea of what this 'romance' thing was all about. Of course, he considered that troublesome. And, of course, he still did. This, technically, wasn't 'romance'. This was just a friendly little gesture or something of the sort that he did to calm Zeo down. It was odd; originally, he would have thought this as troublesome, too. Shikamaru just isn't the kind of guy to get all 'mushy', per se, on someone. But oddly enough, he didn't. And knowing this, he immediately assumed that this was going to be a very bad day…  
  
… Just like every other day.  
  
Zeo's white hair rested on her shoulders, and down her back. Her chocolate brown eyes scanned the area outside still. The rained continued to pour, and she noted that. It would probably still rain all night. She had gotten that upset, really. Personally, she was used to being harassed. But Shikamaru had just said it so coldly, so… well, uncaring, because he didn't care, that it struck a nerve. He had said he was sorry though. I guess Shikamaru just doesn't realize when he's hurting someone really badly. But he had said that he'd protect her from Orochimaru just to apologize. Maybe he's not such a lazy-ass bastard after all? Shikamaru had also been staring out at the rain. He had been counting the drops still, _205, 206, 207… Gah, I lost count. How troublesome. 1, 2, 3…. _

After awhile, counting droplets got boring. So idly, he played with Zeo's long hair. Semi-drowsy, young Zeo didn't mind. So she let him continue, still watching the rain go. Eventually, she wondered if it would stop. It was common sense to know that it would stop before morning, but since in some cases, she causes weather abnormalities based on her emotions… she didn't really know. Hopefully the rain would stop, though. They needed to get moving, really. Because after today, they'd only have four days left. And in all honesty? That wasn't much time considering the fact that….  
  
… They were more than one hundred miles away from Sound village.  
  
Submitting into slumber, Shikamaru relaxed his grip on the girl with the advanced bloodline. His eyes were closed, his scowl ever present. Zeo slowly shut her eyes, too, hiding the chocolate brown pools. And before they knew it, they were both asleep, resting up for the long days ahead of them.  
  
---  
  
Mitsarugi had leaned against Sasuke to use her body-heat to keep him warm. He didn't shrug her off. Hey, they needed to be warm, right? He rested his head on the wall of the cave, keeping his eyes shut. Sasuke would have to get up early tomorrow, and bring Mitsarugi along too, whether she was tired or not. So in all honesty, he had to get her to sleep. "Hey, Mitsa." The child let out a drowsy, "Mm-hmm..?" at that. Maybe he wouldn't have to force her into sleeping after all. He knew she'd eventually fall asleep, so he just started a conversation. "Are you going to be ready when we reach Sound village? We aren't going to stop to rest, you know that, right?" She slightly winced at these words, causing Sasuke to smirk. "Yeah… I'll be ready." Mitsarugi sounded somewhat unsure when she said these words. Sasuke quirked a brow, "You're afraid." _Damn. He knows me too well. He catches every single emotion I try to hide in my voice. _  
  
"I can't hide anything from you, can I?"  
  
The raven-haired Uchiha smirked yet again. "No. I can read you like a book. I do remember knowing you as a kid?" She nodded at that. "Yeah…" Her eyes closed, and she leaned her head backward, thus making her head rest on Sasuke's shoulder. Yet again, he didn't move. He simply closed his eyes, then continued to talk. "You're afraid of Orochimaru." The boy said in a matter-of-factly tone. She nodded her head in answer. "I remember that new ninja girl…. Delana? Saying that Orochimaru is after me and Zeo. Maybe more people." Sasuke slightly twitched at that. _Maybe more people._ People like him. People with advanced bloodlines. People…

… Who, in a way, were dying for power.  
  
Now, Zeo was the one with the power. She didn't need any extra strength, and that probably caught Orochimaru's eye. But for him and Mitsarugi… they needed that power to kill Itachi. And they'd get that power and kill him. Together. He slightly adjusted his position in which he was sitting. "Well, then. I can see why you're a bit nervous. This is somewhat a risky mission for you then." Another nod came from the shivering eleven year old kunoichi, and Sasuke tightened his grip just a bit. "I guess I'll have to protect you. Like I usually did, back then." Now, the Mitsarugi on the outside just nodded her head thankfully. The Mitsarugi inside of her was practically jumping for joy. "And I'll protect you, even if you don't need it." Sasuke smiled slightly at that. The eleven year old continued on, practically asleep now. "…. And don't say I'm too weak to help, 'cause I've gotten stronger…"  
  
With that, she fell asleep. The raven-haired Uchiha smirked slightly, rested his head on the cave wall, then closed his eyes also. _I wasn't going to.  
  
_---  
_Day two of the trip; somewhere near the middle border of __Sound__Village__ and Konoha; __3:00 PM__  
  
_The rain had stopped, and the ground was slightly muddy do to the heavy downfall. This made things more difficult for Zeo, Mitsarugi, Shikamaru, and Sasuke. However, since they had been in the forest, they made their way by jumping from tree to tree. Both pairs had gotten out of their caves at different times; Zeo and Shikamaru got out around 9 AM, while Mitsarugi and Sasuke had made their way out of the cave around three in the morning. As you could probably assume, Mitsarugi was somewhat tired and grumpy, but she kept hopping throughout the forest without a fuss. The last thing she and Sasuke needed was a problem that was whined about.  
  
Zeo had been following right behind Shikamaru, who had already had a map of the forest ready. He knew where to go, and that made life easier, really. "We're about… Sixty miles away from Sound village. We've made great time, but then again, we took some shortcuts. From here on out, there won't be a shortcut. It'll take longer, now." The white haired ex-Mist ninja nodded, brushing some of her hair strands away from her face. They were getting close to the village now; that was good. Her feet were starting to hurt anyway, and they hadn't stopped since. The same thing applied for Mitsarugi and Sasuke.  
  
They were much closer to Sound village than Zeo and Shikamaru were. Of course, Mitsarugi and Sasuke had left a lot earlier than the other two did. They had been walking and jumping for twelve hours straight, without any breaks. The trip didn't faze Sasuke that much apparently, But Mitsarugi… Even she has limits. The raven haired boy paused on a tree branch. The chestnut haired ninja stood by him, panting slightly. From the view of the tree branch, you could see Sound village. "We have to be careful." The Uchiha commented quietly, resting a hand on the tree trunk. "We're in the Sound territory now. They most likely have ninjas surrounding the area." She nodded at that to reply. Quickly, they were off the tree branch and into the forest which led to the village.

Zeo and Shikamaru had certainly gotten farther through the forest. In fact, they were now in the forest were Mitsarugi and Sasuke once were. Shikamaru halted his movements, then scanned over the village, "The gates are heavily guarded. I'm not sure how we'll get in. No doubt, we'll have to sneak in. Doushite wazurawashii…" He scowled, then turned to face Zeo. "Think you could conjure up something to distract them? Maybe make lightning hit a building to occupy them?" The snow-haired female leaf ninja shrugged lightly. "Maybe." His gaze didn't waver from the ninja until he processed information that could effect Zeo's decision towards that. The young Nara didn't dwell upon the matter too much, though. "Alright. Let's get going." They both nodded, then hopped off further into the forest.  
  
Mitsarugi had held up until they reached the wall barrier. There weren't any signs of Sound ninjas so far, but they knew they would appear soon. Naruto, Sakura, Ino, and Alona had most likely taken care of surrounding outside ninjas. Both of those pairs were issued earlier to take care of the ninjas before the next two pairs came in. All four of them were most likely waiting to get in right now. Sasuke looked around the area, "… I don't know how we'll get in." The kunoichi rubbed her temple while thinking, then looked around the area. She saw a hole in the wall. "That's probably where they came in," she began quietly, attempting to figure out the size of the hole. "I'm sure of it. We were told to meet at the east gate, anyway. This is the east gate, and if they were supposed to be here before us…" Mitsarugi discontinued that comment, then turned to the raven-haired Uchiha. "You're about Naruto's size, just taller. You should fit through the hole." And so, the two crawled through the hole in the wall, sprinting over to the hideout where Naruto, Sakura, Ino, and Alona were waiting.  
  
Shikamaru and Zeo had also made their way to the wall. Zeo's hair was frizzed now from the damp weather and constant movement, but she didn't bother to fix it. "I guess I won't have to start a storm." She said hoarsely, trying to catch her breath. The lazy ninja gave a nod to reply to that, "Apparently so. They're most likely already waiting for us in the shack." A nod was then offered as a reply to Shikamaru from the older ninja. "Let's go." He said agitatedly, becoming quite frustrated as he failed to get through the hole. With a quick push, Zeo forced Shikamaru in, then followed along afterwards. They had also made their way over to the hideout.  
  
---  
  
_Somewhere in the main office in Sound village; __5:25 PM___

"They're in the area, Orochimaru-sama."  
  
The pale-skinned Sound village leader nodded his head knowingly, a grin planted on his snake-like face. "I know, Niraku. Is Zeo, Mitsa-chan, and Sasuke-kun with them?" The blonde was stretching out her arm, getting herself ready. She nodded, her silver eyes shielded by her eyelids. "Yes, Orochimaru-sama. They're all together. Only, the other five ninjas I'm sure you take no particular interest in unless you're after two lovesick ninjas, one obnoxious and loud brat, a lazy-ass kid, or a useless beginner medic-nin." At that, a dark figure pushed up its spectacles. It arrived in the room, then leaned on the door post. It was silent, quite irked that the woman had somewhat insulted Alona.  
  
"What's bothering you, Kabuto?"  
  
Kabuto had walked out of the shadows, his pony-tail, ever present. His face was streaked with hints of annoyance as he shifted his gaze off of Orochimaru and onto Niraku. "She's not a useless beginner medic-nin. I don't think you've ever read her information, Niraku-san." The muscular blonde simply shrugged. She didn't care, really. "It's not my job to analyze people, kiddo. I wouldn't know. Would you like me to go now, Orochimaru-sama?" The man with bandaged hands nodded his head, and at that, the woman hopped off, her senbon ready in a pocket. "Do you have any information for me, Kabuto?" The silver haired spectacled adolescent nodded, then tossed three cards to Orochimaru. "There's that information you requested on Sasuke-kun, Mitsa-chan, and that Zeo girl. It's quite… funny how when a person is drowsy, they tend to let out information." The snake-like Sannin grinned at Kabuto, "Who are you tricking now, Kabuto?"  
  
"A girl named Nikko."  
  
---  
  
In the hideout, all eight leaf ninjas sat quietly. Sakura and Ino sat by Sasuke, of course, Alona sat by Zeo, Naruto sat by Sakura, and Mitsarugi just leaned on the wall. With a quick 'poof', a woman, around twenty three, appeared in front of the Genins. She had a smile planted on her face, with her hitai-ate tied tightly to her upper left thigh. Her auburn hair rested on her shoulders and went no further. The woman had quite tanned skin, and light brown eyes with hints of green and gold mixed in. This older ninja could clearly be identified as Nanji Mitashi; Zeo, Alona, and Mitsarugi's sensei. The emerald-eyed redhead beamed, "Nanji-sensei! What are you doing here?" The Jounin kept her smile plastered onto her fine face as she ignored her student's antics. "I'm supposed to be your temporary sensei here. Tsunade-sama sent me to make sure you all at least come back in one piece. I cannot help you while you are gathering information, however."

Every one of the Genins gave a slight nod at that, then were dismissed from the premises. Ino and Naruto had gone to search near the west gate, Alona and Sakura at the south gate, Shikamaru and Zeo at the west gate, and Mitsarugi and Sasuke at the east gate. They'd wait until sundown to go to the main office at Sound village; most of the ninjas needed to be off guard.

---  
  
_In the forest clearing in Konoha; __6:00 PM___

"So the Kazekage wants to make ties with Konoha?" This voice belonged to Tsunade. The Sand-nin trio stood in front of the Hokage, nodding. Delana stood next to Gaara; she was… well, assigned to keep Gaara in line. Tsunade had caught wind of the incident in the ramen shop. "That's right, Tsunade-sama." The blonde known as Temari began, leaning forth on her giant fan. Her blonde hair was down right now, due to the fact that it was getting frizzed from the pony-tails. Gaara shot constant death glares at Delana, his arms crossed. He still didn't like her too much, right now.  
  
Likewise for Delana, she wasn't… that fond of Gaara. Indeed, she though he was cute. Indeed, she knew that he was a cold hearted bastard. Still, though, she wasn't too fond of Gaara personality-wise. Her deep black hair was styled into a tight ponytail, which rested in front of her shoulder, on her stomach. Thus, her braid was resting on her fish-net shirt-thing. Her face remained emotionless, and she remained silent. Delana wasn't allowed to talk about any of this. 'Special Hokage-business' was what Tsunade claimed it as.  
  
Tsunade idly played with her Hokage necklace, "Give me about two days to decide this. You can just blame your absence and tardy arrival at the village on me. I have to think this through. You three may stay at the guest ninja quarters. Delana, continue to keep Gaara in line." The blonde nodded, gave a slight wave, then walked off. Temari nodded at the Hokage, then ushered her two brothers away to the ninja quarters. Delana returned a glare to Gaara, then walked off to her house. She'd have to get rested up. According to what she figured from Gaara, he'd make her life a living hell.  
  
Well, for now.  
  
---  
  
_Sound village; __7:00 PM___

"My, aren't you all comfortable?"  
  
The pairs had gotten together. That, on their account, was somewhat of a bad move, but hey, they WERE supposed to gather information and they weren't given direct instructions how to do it. Niraku stood before them, her blonde hair now tied up into a ponytail instead of resting on her shoulders. In between the slits of her fingers were senbon, and Niraku, of course, was ready to strike. Yet, she could only hurt the five ninjas that had no importance to Orochimaru. Alona tossed her red hair, "My, you're quite annoying. Why are you following us?"

As if on cue, a familiar silver haired ninja came in to the scene.  
  
_K-Kabuto?! _The redhead took a step back from surprise. Mitsarugi stood in shock. "You're working from Orochimaru?!" The child hissed, her words dripping with poison. Zeo glanced at the eleven year old leaf ninja beside of her, her face emotionless. She knew something like this would happen. From the beginning, she hadn't really trusted Kabuto. His smile seemed fake as it were, anyway. No one can keep a smile that genuine plastered onto their face without having a secret motive. It just… wasn't possible.  
  
Sasuke twitched slightly. He had known of Kabuto's ties with Orochimaru, along with Naruto and Sakura. The spectacled nineteen year old nodded, pushing up his –ever so- circular glasses with his index finger. That was the only emotion he offered as an answer to that. Alona took this in slowly, processing the information through her brain. She couldn't believe this. All this time, she had been friends with… with a criminal, or something of this sort. Kabuto smirked, "Now, Alona. Even with that shocked face, you're still an unmistakably cute Genin. I guess it's too late to say, 'Don't take this personally.'?"  
  
Damn right it's too late.  
  
Alona's face suddenly changed from surprised to angry. The silver haired medical-nin snickered lightly. "Oh? Now you're giving me a scary face? I'm supposed to be afraid?" The old Yakushi continued to taunt, and sooner or later, Niraku snapped. "Stop it, Kabuto-kun. We aren't here for your personal entertainment." Quickly wiping the smirk off his face, Kabuto nodded, then fumbled with the scalpel hand jutsu. "As you can probably assume…" Niraku began, her low feminine voice ringing through the air. Nanji watched idly in the forest not to far from the scene. She'd be ready to get the students in case something bad happened. "… We're going to kill you all. Except for Zeo, Mitsa-chan, and Sasuke-kun, of course…"  
  
Typical. They should have seen that coming.  
  
Sasuke and Mitsarugi twitched. Mitsarugi hadn't been surprised when Sasuke's name turned up, and it was vice-versa for Sasuke. Looks like Sasuke's early predictions were correct, like they usually were. Ino looked quite upset, flailing her arms around in the air. "Well, why Mitsa-chan or Zeo-san?!" Take note, she didn't say Sasuke's name. The blonde woman didn't even answer the question. Kabuto had already hopped down to the Genins, and touched Naruto and Ino's legs, causing them to collapse to the ground. The spectacled Genin lifted a hand daringly at Alona. "So… Alona. You knew the would happen eventually. How are you going to act?"

In all honesty, Alona didn't know.

Sasuke, Mitsarugi, and Zeo stayed close together. They had each others backs. Niraku smirked down upon the three ninjas, twirling a senbon. "Well, now. Let's get ready to play, shall we?"  
  
-------------------------------------------------  
  
A/N: Ugh. Yet again, I feel icky after this. Anna, I promise the next chapter will have lots more scenes with Delana and Gaara. This chapter sort of had to focus on Mitsa, Sasuke, and Zeo, you know? Gomen-nasai! Don't shun me, all-mighty Anna! Believe me, I have some good stuff planned, though.  
  
**Preview of the next chapter: **_"Play, huh?" The chestnut-haired kunoichi mimicked mockingly, changing her tone slightly. Niraku pursed her lips at this, then squinted her eyes in agitation. Sasuke let out a smirk, but Zeo kept her face emotionless. The old blonde through a senbon down at the Genins, but they easily side-stepped it. "She's just toying with us." The Uchiha exclaimed agitatedly, cracking his knuckles. Zeo had already clasped a kunai in her hand, and Mitsarugi was unwrapping her full bandaged right arm. She'd have to use some of her advanced bloodline jutsus in this situation. Sasuke had already summoned his Sharingan, the once onyx-black pupils now adapting to more of a blood red shade. Niraku's pursed lips molded into a smirk. Oh, yes. Let's test their powers to almost a full extent, shall we? "Are you ready, kiddies?"  
  
"Bring it."_

Okay. I TRIED to make this chapter really really long, and I'm VERY tired. Please don't complain about this being a short chapter. (--;) 'Till next time. _Mada__ Mada Dane… _


	7. Dilemmas of the Aftermath

Reveries of Life, Love, and Revenge

* * *

A/N: Oh, I'm going to have so much fun with this chapter. Firstly, there's that battle with Niraku, then there's going to be Gaara's tormenting time… And some more scenes with Niraku and Orochimaru and Kabuto… Eh, nonetheless, it'll be fun. I'm not going to talk anymore or tell you anything else about what's going to happen. Um… This chapter should be long too, if I play my cards right… and I hope I do. There's not going to be any fluff in this chapter, but there will be a battle scene. I'll try to make it long. Also, Nikko will make a reappearance, and I'm going to push myself into elaborating about Ino, Sakura, and Naruto. They're part of the fight too, anyway. What else…. Oh, prepare for some fluffy stuff around Shikamaru and Zeo, nothing to high in magnitude though. Nanji will keep her appearance in this chapter for reasons. Now, to reply to reviews… 

**To Magicians of the Yami: **Eh heh heh… You wanted me to hurry up, and I did, right? Just know that you can always trust me when it comes to updating the chapters quickly for now until the school year starts.

**Angel Suzuka 13: **Thanks! I'm trying my best to update every day now. Middle school is coming up in about eleven days, so I'm pushing myself hard to get to at least chapter ten before September 1st! Warning and disclaimer: This chapter contains grotesque content and/or offensive language. Viewer discretion is certainly advised. Also, I do not own Naruto in any way whatsoever. Sasuke, Kiba, Kabuto, and all those nice original characters are mine and my friend Anna's. Do not claim any of my/Anna's characters as yours or use them in a story without my/Anna's permission. The same things apply for any original jutsus.

Chapter 7: Dilemmas of the Aftermath -------------------------------------------------

"Play, huh?" The chestnut-haired kunoichi mimicked mockingly, changing her tone slightly. Niraku pursed her lips at this, then squinted her eyes in agitation. Sasuke let out a smirk, but Zeo kept her face emotionless. The old blonde threw a senbon down at the Genins, but they easily side-stepped it. "She's just toying with us." The Uchiha exclaimed agitatedly, cracking his knuckles. Zeo had already clasped a kunai in her hand, and Mitsarugi was unwrapping her fully bandaged right arm. She'd have to use some of her advanced bloodline jutsus in this situation. Sasuke had already summoned his Sharingan, the once onyx-black pupils now adapting to more of a blood red shade. Niraku's pursed lips molded into a smirk. Oh, yes. Let's test their powers to almost a full extent, shall we? "Are you ready, kiddies?"

"Bring it."

At this comment, the golden-haired hunter-nin soared into the air like an acrobat, constantly throwing her senbon down at the Genins like they were score parts on a dart game. She wasn't allowed to _hurt _them, but Orochimaru never preached to her about _knocking them out_, right? That was what she had intended to do; knock each an every one of those three rookie ninjas out by hitting a non-lethal puncture point. Mitsarugi, of course, had figured out Niraku's plan quickly, being as she took the hunter-nin classes when she was younger. The senbon were thrown at angle so it would hit the weakest point in the upper-neck area. If the needle successfully made contact, which it had a high chance of doing so because of its high speed, then the one who got hit would at first feel numb, then collapse onto the ground. It would only take that person a few minutes to get knocked out afterwards. Sasuke had managed to dodge the senbon that were thrown towards him, but had somewhat of a difficulty in doing so. Zeo had also dodged the senbon, but with less difficulty, due to concentrating fully.

The chestnut-haired Urashima fumbled with a long chain of hand seals, "Ninpou, Kaze Shouheki no Jutsu!" This jutsu was commonly known as Mitsarugi's 'Wind Barrier' jutsu skill. It temporarily used her chakra to compact wind into a semi-strong barrier. Simply put, this would allow the three Genins to avoid Niraku's needles why they planned ahead with strong jutsus or something of the sort. Niraku, landing back on top of the roof of a Sound village building, was popping her shoulder back into joint with a quirked brow. _A wind barrier jutsu, huh? _

* * *

Ino frantically tried to lift herself up off the ground, only to receive a quite painful punch from Kabuto when she got mid-air. Her long blonde hair was now rested upon her shoulders and on her back, and her movements ceased to continue. It just wasn't worth trying to move now. Her face was bruised on her cheek from the constant physical contact hits issued by Kabuto. Sakura clasped a kunai tightly in her hand, as she watched the scene. Never had she imagined Kabuto so strong. He had managed to sever the nerves in Naruto's right leg, not to mention twist the blonde boy's arm to a point in which it almost looked to be on the verge of breaking. The once hyper Uzumaki was now lying quite still up against the east barrier wall, clutching his arm. Apparently, when Kabuto had forcefully thrown him at the wall, his arm fractured or something of the sort. 

The coral-colored haired leaf shinobi had run over to Naruto, trying to help him get up. The boy, unfortunately, couldn't move, due to the nerve system in his right leg. Alona had been punched in the stomach and doubled over, clutching that area tightly. Her red hair had shielded her face slightly, the length not exactly long enough to rest upon her shoulders just yet. She was cursing to herself on the inside. This… was just too much. All this time, she had trusted Kabuto. Yet… he turned. The silver haired Genin had already made his way over to Sakura, his hand lifted in mid-air. She slapped it away, glaring furiously. Kabuto was taken aback at this rash action from Sakura, "No, no, no, what's with the scary face, Sakura-chan? I'm quite surprised to see something from you…" The Yakushi's hands inched nearer to the young Haruno, the bluish glow never ceasing. He lightly touched her forehead, causing Sakura to back up against the east wall. This, certainly, had a high chance of corrupting her central nervous system. The spectacled assistant was about to continue, until he felt a shuriken lodge painfully in his back. He turned, only to face a quite furious Alona.

* * *

Mitsarugi turned to Zeo, "Zeo-san… I heard you have an advanced bloodline. I think… you might be able to help us out, if you can conjure up something…" The snow-haired kunoichi merely nodded. She would know what to do. After all those years of practice, she could create any type of weather abnormality she wished, and decide what magnitude it was to be. Simply put, if she wanted light rain fall, she'd get it. If she wanted something more serious, she'd get that, too. That's why Naruto's nickname for her was the 'Weather-woman'. "What'd you have in mind?" The eleven year old thought about that for a second. A hurricane would be too destructive; lava flow would be too destructive, too… A strong wind storm wouldn't do enough…

Wait. What about a lightning storm?

Mitsarugi tossed her chestnut hair over her shoulder, "I was thinking along the lines of a lightning storm. If we're lucky, the lightning will strike Niraku, being as she's so high up. The only problem we'll have is keeping her in the same place." She gave a slight nod at that, then looked at Sasuke. "How much chakra do you think you have left, Sasuke? Percentage-wise, please."

"…I'd say about seventy-five as an estimate rounded to the nearest five."

Mitsarugi thought about for a second. The leader instinct began to kick in, and her mind began to formulate a plan. Her hands lingered close to her senbon carrier. She had an idea. "… I have a plan. Sasuke, I think you could use your Katon Housenka jutsu. If it successfully hits, she'll most likely fall back from the force. It's… physics. When she's down temporarily, I could hit her in a certain puncture point to paralyze her for a bit. Then, Zeo, maybe you could get us a nice lightning storm?" The raven-haired boy looked at Zeo, who nodded in reply. He went to perfectly working away at hand seals, the wind barrier intentionally wearing off. Niraku twitched slightly. Either that child had absolutely chakra stamina, or…

* * *

Kabuto twitched slightly at Alona. He pushed his circular spectacles up the bridge of his nose with his right index finger, "You still are annoying. It would have been wiser to stay down." At this, the fifteen year old cringed. Her hands had grasped the long wooden flute tightly, but shook due to her constant quivering. He really thought Alona would have acquiesced defeat when she keeled over. Nervously, but adamant, she brought the blow hole to her lips, working away at a tune. The song had rung in Kabuto's ear melodically, chiming quite loudly. Alona's semblance… her aura, it had changed quite expeditiously. The once kind, shy ambience that shrouded around her had turned more into a determined, glacial one.

This tune, he knew, would drive him insane in mere seconds. It was common knowledge to him that Alona used her flute as a substitute for hand seals. These tunes that she played could do many things. For one, these melodies toyed with one's mind, blocking out their mind to reality. With a single song, she could ferment a person, agitate them, petrify them, or many other things. She could do all this with just a simple song. Kabuto's hand had made their way to his forehead, and he rubbed that area in a perturbed manner. His mind had already been playing tricks on him. But somehow, maybe, just maybe, if he tried hard to let himself grasp reality, he could pull himself out of this reverie. It pained him, the things he was seeing. Alona knew. That one time her mother had been sick and Kabuto's dad came over to help had made its way into her mind speedily.

She knew, oh, she knew, that this would torment Kabuto to her intention.

And so, her fingers continued fastidiously glide across the tune holes. (A/N: At least I think that's what they're called. I play the viola, so I have no idea.) The waved single hair strand had cascade lightly onto her forehead as the wind built up just a bit. This rubicund lock had tickled her forehead, almost persuading her to stop executing the melody, but she obstreperously shrugged the tingling sensations off. Sakura watched, enthralled by the scene. She had helped Ino out a bit, using some simple medical jutsus. Shikamaru had reported to Nanji, telling her about Naruto. They'd have to get him later.

* * *

… Niraku didn't have time to complete her thoughts. As if on cue, huge crimson colored fireballs with an orange hue hit her, sweltering her skin. A blackened spot appeared in her cheek from where the flames had collided with her skin. Part of honey-colored hair had been singed, and this caused her teeth to grit as she seethed with enmity. The woman lifted her right hand onto her cheek, wincing slightly as her fingers touched the skin. She was about to remove the hand, until her body shot painful paroxysms through her body, paralyzing her. Niraku blinked in surprise, then realized that a senbon had lodged its way in a non-lethal puncture point. _The kid threw that, _She noted mentally, the tremors that were sent up her body martyring Niraku greatly. The sky had taken on a quite dark shade now, voluminous storm-clouds crowding themselves in the once cerulean atmosphere. (A/N: … I… think that works. I'm not sure. Its 3:31 AM, I'm not sure if it works, and I don't want to check.)

A roaring noise filled the ninjas' ears, indicating a storm was initiating the beginning stages. This thunder that had started was similar to that of when a timpani hit a really low note in a ballroom, echoing the sound through the room yet keeping the original loudness audible. Indeed, this had hurt the Genins' ears. But that was better than getting killed. A light drizzle had begun, droplets of clear liquid grazing Sasuke's, Zeo's, and Mitsarugi's cheeks. Their hair had gotten slightly limp now from the rainfall. The muscular hunter-nin had still been incapacitated, her body still defying offering the ability for her to move. This light rain that had once cooled her burns down had gone into a quite fiercer stage, the water particles forcefully dropping down in a multitude. This no longer helped her skin, it hurt it. And it wasn't long before streaks of lightning had marked their origin in the caliginous sky.

* * *

_"Otousan, hokaninanika maro iriyou?" _

_An eleven year old boy had stood next to a tall man, clutching a medical kit in his hands. His silver hair wasn't long; it could only make a small ponytail in the back. The boy's circular glasses rested on the bridge of his nose, the huge circular shape mixing its characteristics into his face quite oddly. The man looked down, "No, Kabuto. Elana will be fine, now." His son beamed up at his adoptive-father respectfully, then averted his gaze towards a petite six-year old girl whom had been waiting ever-so patiently at the front of her mother's bedroom door. "Anou… Doushita motte okaasan?" Kabuto, ever cheerful, smiled at the girl warmly. "Your mom had a cold. She's fine, Alona! Father fixed her up!" _

_Alona flashed a smile at Kabuto and his father, then proceeded over to her mother, using a wet cloth to wet her forehead. Kabuto's father nudged his son in the shoulder, and they took their leave, leaving a note by the front door to give Alona specific instructions with what to do for her mother. As soon as they had walked out though, a storm of shuriken flew at them. And by a stroke of dumb luck, the metallic weaponry had all hit young Yakushi Kabuto's adoptive father. _

Her melody forever playing, Kabuto clutched his forehead as the painful memory continued to replay over and over in his head. Each time it replayed itself, though, the visualization got blurry, similar to that of a drunken dream. It had occurred to him, indeed, that he was coming to grips with reality, realizing that this hallucination, this… chimera was just a memory, and nothing more. The last thing Yakushi Kabuto needed was a repeated horror scarred in his life. Alona had noticed Kabuto awakening from the genjutsu. In truth, she couldn't redo the jutsu now, or keep his mind occupied much longer. She had, though, noticed a storm building up, so obviously Zeo had come to her rescue by starting a storm.

* * *

By now, the Genins' were saturated. Their clothes were now darkened in color; the garments have increased in weight now from absorbing the clear liquid. She had been hit by the lightning. All three of them had scene it, too. The electrical discharge made contact with her, scorching her skin and piercing her painfully. She had let out a scream, too. They had walked over to her, examining her body thoroughly after she fell off the roof. The flesh was darkened. No, not just darkened. Black. Her hand had twitched slightly for a little while after the impact, but ceased its frantic movements completely after awhile. "She's dead." Mitsarugi exclaimed mundanely, getting herself out of her kneeling position. Sasuke had been leaning against the building Niraku once sat upon the roof on, his face emotionless. 

"One less person to worry about." The raven haired Uchiha muttered, wiping off the remainder of water-droplets off his forehead with the back of his hand. Zeo had died the storm down, her gaze averted away from the straw-haired woman. "Her body is quite… deformed." The eleven year old leaf kunoichi said laconically, turning towards the east gate barrier wall. Zeo had already begun to make her way over to the hurt Genin silently. Sasuke and Mitsa followed closely behind, leaving Niraku's corpse lying on the ground.

* * *

Kabuto had come to grips, but upon seeing that Niraku had been killed… he panicked. Well, only slightly. With a simple cavort into the air, he was off. Nanji had made her way over to the Genin, Shikamaru power-walking over to Zeo hurriedly. He scanned over her quickly, then turned to Naruto, who was being lugged over the auburn-haired sensei. Ino had been making her way behind Nanji with Sakura's help. She didn't flail her arms angrily or protest defiantly when Sakura offered to help. Her body ached, and she needed help getting back to Konoha, anyway. "Naruto might not be able to move for awhile. Sakura, I'm sure you hold him back in training? I know he won't like hearing that he can't train with you all for awhile." The salmon haired ninja bobbed her head in agreement. Nanji had used a special Jounin technique to teleport the throng back to Konoha; walking the way back would be living hell.

* * *

"…" 

"…. C'mon! You afraid, Sandy-boy?" This voice belonged to the forever-hyper Momochi Delana, Konoha's newest registered ninja. Temari leaned on her behemothic fan impassively, "It's not that he's afraid to fight you, Delana. I just don't think he wants to waste a breath." The brick-haired sand demon followed the conversation along apathetically, his sage green eyes shifting their gaze to whoever fought back with a comment whilst they fought. Delana squinted her eyes in an annoyed manner. "Maybe so. But whatever, I still want to fight him."

… Still?

Gaara snickered softly at this girl's antics. He tousled his hair in an amused manner, then went back to watching the fight carefully. Temari had rolled her eyes, "I guess weak dogs bark more often… You do realize you're signing your death wish by challenging Gaara?" Kankuro smirked at this, but his face streaked with grim. This was true. Almost any opponent who faced Gaara got… well, a rather unpleasant fight they had to deal with. The only people who were really considered a challenge for the boy named Sabakuno Gaara were Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto, and Rock Lee. This Momochi Delana was just a gutsy girl who didn't know what she was getting herself into. The charcoal haired kunoichi just tossed her braid over her shoulder. "No I'm not." Twitch, twitch. "My, you're gutsy, aren't you?" Temari grimaced, then fixed a ponytail. Delana grinned and merely shook her head, grinning broadly. "Nope! Just gutsy!" Twitch, and more twitch. Well, you had to love how hyper she was, that was certain.

"You really are an idiot, you know that?" the fifteen year old golden-haired girl asked, her voice slightly irritable. Gaara hadn't twitched once. He simply stepped forward, leered at Temari, then looked at Delana. "I'll fight her." Kankuro and Temari almost had a heart-attack at this. "But, Gaara, you're big sister says no. We're wasting time and energy on this girl if we do that." Our favorite brick-haired sand-nin shook his head impassively, "We still have another day before Tsunade makes her decision. I can do whatever I want in the meanwhile. Besides, I've never considered you as a sibling anyway." Delana grinned genuinely, her inner self jumping for joy. "Alrighty-then!" Her voice rang out happily, causing Gaara to twitch slightly and get an urge to scoot away. "So, when do you want to start, Gaara-kun?" ….Twitch, twitch.

"Right now."

* * *

The whole group of Genins were at the hospital. Luckily, a large portion of the group only had slight minor injuries accompanied by extreme chakra depletion, which was easily cured due to the fact that one simply had to rest if chakra percentage was dangerously low. Luckily for them, rest… was what they needed greatly. Ino didn't have as severe damage as Naruto. For her, she got luckily to have been touched in her ankle area, where the ankle would merely get swollen and sting a bit if she walked on it too much. She just needed ice for her bruised face. Naruto, however, was the one who afflicted the most damage. His arm, indeed, was fractured, and his right leg wouldn't be able to sustain severe pressure. Uzumaki Naruto… he was just too stubborn to give up. Everyone should have foresaw the blonde getting injured like so. But Tsunade could fix him up, she assured everybody of that. 

Mitsarugi's right arm was fully bandaged yet again, a new set of bandages taking their place on her arm now. She was visiting Nikko, who had the stitches not too long ago. "So, Mits. How was the super-mission?" Nikko had been plagued to lying straight on the bed, the ability to sit up stripped from her list of actions. It wasn't that the stitches would break or anything. She'd just get lots of pain. "It was okay. We killed a lady. Sasuke and I walked straight through a forest without breaks for twelve hours." Nikko's eyes bulged at this. Twelve hours? She couldn't manage ten minutes, dammit! "… You pour soul. Oh, who'd you kill?"  
  
"That hunter-nin lady."  
  
"I bet it was fun." Mitsarugi nodded at that. "Yeah. Let's just say I was happy when I got to use my senbon again. Zeo got most of the fun though. She struck her with lightning." Now, the young Urashima knew she had to mention to Nikko about Kabuto. She was endangering her friend if she didn't. "Nikko, I learned something about Kabuto, he--." A nurse walked into the room at that time, carrying a tray of food. Sasuke had followed behind the short haired nurse, "Mitsa, we're leaving. Visiting hours are almost over. We're having a hard enough time trying to get Sakura out of Rock Lee's room." She nodded to the raven-haired Uchiha, gave a slight wave to Nikko, then walked off out of the room. She WOULD tell Nikko about Yakushi Kabuto later. She'd have to. Otherwise, she'd be endangering her friend to a point in which even SHE got extremely uncomfortable at.

* * *

Back in Sound village, _10:00 PM___

"So, this is the work of Sasuke-kun, Zeo, and Mitsa-chan?"

A familiar spectacled medical-ninja nodded, pulling a senbon out of Niraku's pale wrist. "Mitsa-chan's finger prints are on this. It's her's." He then pointed to a burn mark on the dead blonde's cheek, "By the way the skin is scorched, she was burned from fire by this. It's common knowledge that Sasuke-kun did that, and singe her hair with a fire jutsu. The burns are too… lightly shaded to have any other cause of damage. The rest was affected by a bolt of lightning. You can easily assume Zeo used her advanced bloodline to her benefit and advantage during this match. It looks like Niraku-san's cause of death was because of major shock, causing her central nervous to shut down. Simply, they played this woman like a fiddle, and carried out a plan quite well." Orochimaru grinned, his snake-like facial structure enlightened by the dim light emitting from the multitude of candles. "She was a great toy, then." Kabuto smirked slightly at that, pushing up his thick spectacles with his right index finger. With a nod, he replied, "Indeed. You picked the right person for them to play with, Orochimaru-sama. I have updated information for you." In a practiced move and a flick of the wrist, three nin-info cards made their way onto the snake Sannin's lap. Curiously, Orochimaru picked up a card.

"Your information appears accurate."

"Isn't it always, Orochimaru-sama?" the silver-haired Genin fought back defensively, eye twitching slightly in agitation. A raspy laugh was the only emotion given as a reply to that, followed along with a twisted smirk. "Of course, Kabuto. You always seem to figure out everything accurately about these rookies." The Yakushi smiled slightly, then adjusted his sound hitai-ate. "Right. Who do you need me to fetch now to lead Sasuke-kun, Mitsa-chan, and Zeo here?" Orochimaru thought about that for a second. His smirk slowly turned into a light frown, then back to his usual toothy grin. Kabuto shuddered at that. "How about that girl Nikko you've taken a liking to?"

* * *

"You've got to be kidding me! Nothing penetrates your sand!" Of course, Delana. Weren't you paying attention during the Chuunin exam? You were there. Temari snickered lightly as she watched the hyper-girl's many attempts to destroy Gaara's sand barrier. Of course, she knew that even if Delana managed to get past the sand barrier, she'd have to worry about Gaara's armor of sand, too. This was known clearly as Gaara's absolute defense, and it worked quite effectively. This sand was Sabakuno Gaara's key to victory, basically. Delana had rested her two hands on her knees to support her upper body while she slumped down, panting. It had been countless times that she had tried to break this barrier of sand. Every time, she failed quite miserably. 

Throughout the whole match, Gaara simply stood there, arms crossed passively as he watched the kunoichi try to break his defense force. She had thrown kunais, shuriken, rocks… anything she could get her hands on. Even if she managed to so much as dent the sand, though, it would just regenerate itself. Simply put, it was hopeless to even think about someone being able to beat Gaara, really. Gaara was invincible. … And he always would be. Kankuro had sat idly next to Temari, resting his elbows on her huge fan. Temari's blonde hair was resting on her shoulders now. Not too long ago, she had let it down from it getting too limp. Gaara looked at Delana in a bored manner, "…Are you done yet?" Defiantly, the raven haired girl shook her head. Temari rolled her eyes. "Are you that dense?!"

...Maybe.

"I'm not dense… I... I'm… Um... Grr, Gaara, I'm going to figure out how to break this sand barrier… then we'll fight! For real!" Oh, you really have to love her determined stupidity. If you don't, you're weird. Gaara had placed the top back on his gourd. He looked at the panting Delana, smirked lightly, then walked over to his 'siblings'. Temari stood up quickly, "C'mon, Gaara. Let's go back to the ninja quarters. PLEASE. It's hot out here." Kankuro had nodded to that in agreement. Irritably, Gaara replied with a nod. "Yeah. Let's go. I'm looking forward to that fight with you, Delana." And with that, the sand-nin trio walked over to the guest ninja quarters, ever-impatient for Tsunade's decision.

* * *

"Huh?! Where am I?" A hyper blonde boy exclaimed quite loudly, blinking at a black haired girl who was fiddling with her two index fingers. This girl, clearly, marked herself as Hyuuga Hinata. "… U-Um... You're in the hospital, Naruto-kun…" Sill ever-confused, Naruto scratched his head. 

"…Okay. What happened?"

The pearl-eyed girl gave a slight shrug, a roseate shaded blush making yet another appearance on her pretty face. "…I-I don't know, Naruto-kun… You should ask Sakura-chan when she visits…"

"Yeah. I'll do that." Smiling goofily towards the young Hyuuga, Naruto sat upward, resting his cast for his arm on his knee. "You know, it's past visiting hours. You should leave, Hinata-chan. I don't want you to get in trouble; the nurse is a bitch." _He cares… _Smiling softly, Hinata nodded, then stood up. "Right, Naruto-kun… I-I'll visit tomorrow… Konbanwa…" And with that, Hinata left the hospital, grinning broadly as he left the girl left the premise.

* * *

The following day, yet again, had been boring as usual. Like they always did, then Genins met at the forest clearing. Shikamaru leaned against a tree, Zeo lingering ever close to the boy. Mitsarugi had sat next to Sasuke, and Sakura, finding this as an opportunity to nag Sasuke, so she clung to his right arm while trying constantly to strike up a conversation. Yet again, Kakashi and Gai were there. The silver haired Jounin was reading his Icha Icha Paradise comic, and Gai… well, he constantly tried to follow along. Numerous times, Kakashi had whacked Gai across the side of his head with the pornographic comic. 

You'd think he'd get the idea the first or second time around.

Tsunade had made her way to the clearing yet again, her face somewhat grim… yet again. This slightly irked the Genins. What if they had to do another Sound village mission? They… just weren't up to it. The fifty-year old blonde had wiped the grim face off speedily, though, and replaced it with a cheerful expression to enlighten the mood. Gai grinned a flashy smile at Tsunade, and Kakashi simply glanced upward.

"What's their mission for this time, Tsunade-sama?"

Sakura got a bit nervous, but she had sort of figured that Tsunade wouldn't send them on a risky mission again. Although Nanji had carried out her job as a sensei quite well, they needed more than her to be there. Kakashi wouldn't be able to come, due to fear of being recognized, and he didn't need that. The Genins, however, needed him to be able to do anything risky such as that. Had they successfully completed that mission, it would have made a nice little mark on their mission records. Tsunade clasped her Hokage necklace, in dismay a bit. "…Okay. Although the last mission didn't go so well, but I think you all should be able to complete this mission successfully, and return with few major injuries." Zeo had locked her gaze on Tsunade. She was being a bit… risky lately. She'd have to figure out why. Maybe she was just uptight about something. "Now, this mission… well, it won't be completely easy. At about midnight last night, a ninja known as Nikko was kidnapped. She was just snatched out of her hospital bed. The security cameras had caught the kidnapper in action… I'm sure you all remember Yakushi Kabuto from the Chuunin exam. "

At this, Mitsarugi's fists clenched.

Sasuke placed a hand over the chestnut-haired kunoichi's right fist. They didn't need her getting inflamed right now; she had to save it for when they were on the rescue mission. Shikamaru let out a, "How troublesome…", only to be flicked in the head by the snow-haired ex-Mist nin. He grunted, then nodded his head. Tsunade looked around for any objections, then upon finding none, she nodded her head. "You are dismissed. Good luck."

* * *

A/N: … I… really have to stop making these icky chapters. Really. I do. But yay! The Naruto/Hinata coupling is starting to form! I'm with that relationship all the way, so I'm quite happy that I've decided to bring it into the story now! Um… I guess this is another long chapter, asides the battle nothing really happened… although I said this was an icky chapter, this is… certainly one of my favorite chapters, I guess. 

**Preview of the next Chapter: **_"I trusted you?" _

_"That you did." Kabuto pushed up his spectacles, then pushed up the fourteen-year olds also. She flinched slightly, taking the silver-haired medical-ninja by surprise a bit. "Don't take this too personally. If I wasn't working for Orochimaru, this wouldn't be happening." __Nikko__ thought about that slightly for a second. Her brows furrowed as she went into deep thought, processing what was happening through her head over and over again. He dirt-blonde hair rested on her shoulders and she hung her head, still quite upset that KABUTO was the one who had kidnapped her. Twitching slightly, Kabuto looked over, "…Hey, I'm basically saying I'm sorry, okay?" _

_"You say you're sorry. It doesn't mean that you actually mean it, you bastard." _

_Standing in the doorway of the main office in Sound village, where Konoha's assigned ninjas. Indeed, they were all in a ready position, ready to fight. _

__


	8. Fun and Games, Literally

Reveries of Life, Love, and Revenge

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Author's note: Okay! We're at chapter eight! Things will have to get a little fluffy around Zeo and Shikamaru, but nothing too serious in magnitude. This chapter will have a bit of confrontations in it, a few… depressing moments, maybe? I think I'll get Kabuto and Nikko hooked up in a few chapters; things are getting comfortable with them, along with Zeo and Shikamaru, and Sasuke and Mitsa. But I'm forcing myself to avoid getting too fluffy around pairs that are supposed to get together on a certain chapter. Meaning, Sasuke and Mitsa can't do anything too fluffy before chapter ten, and the same thing applies to Delana and Gaara except the chapter for them is twelve. I'm enjoying making all these battle scenes, really, and the way I have this story set up includes quite an amount of fighting. But I know you all eventually get tired of just fighting scenes, right? I thought so. So in this chapter, I'll be offering you some other…. Good-ness… Of stuff. And this 'good-ness' will last for a few chapters, but for their own particular reasons. Um, for your reference, Delana and Gaara are going to fight… or at least begin to until certain events…. therefore I won't introduce them in this chapter 'till near the middle. I'll be able to make up for it, though. Um, what else… Oh, yes. It has come to my attention that after I read the chapters, some of the characters are a bit OOC. I apologize; it's hard to maintain their original personality yet make them develop feelings or something of the sort at the same time. This has become especially hard for Sasuke and Gaara, who, I noticed, is VERY OOC. So yet again, I apologize very much. And gomen nasai for the delay.

**Anna: **I LOVE the Hinata and Naruto pairing… and with what I have planned, that coupling shall progress gradually. What I'm afraid of, though, is that I'm not exactly doing Hinata or Naruto correctly when it comes to being in character. Oh well, there's time to improve and such.

**Angel Suzuka 13: **Thanks for reviewing! Your website is awesome, by the way. Oh, and I'm waiting for YOU to update your fiction with the original character pairing…. Though… jealousy… is… rising…

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Chapter 8: Fun and Games, Literally

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It had only been a mere four hours or so since Nikko had been kidnapped. Indeed, she had seen the face of her captor. It was once, maybe twice, through the night that the candles had actually enlightened his face. And when they finally did, it left Nikko heart broken and confused upon seeing the person. Yakushi Kabuto, well, Kabuto to her, was her kidnapper. Not only did this baffle out dear spectacled ninja, but left her pondering upon as to why he ever was her supposed 'friend'. It was the belief to her that this was simply a game. Like chess. She was the pawn, and was being lured forward in a strategy. So basically, all dear Nikko thought was that she was being used.

Technically, given the circumstances, that was a reasonable thought.

But that doesn't mean thoughts are necessarily true. Yes, she was a pawn. But to Kabuto, she was a friend. Never in his career as Orochimaru's apprentice had he ever really warmed up to people as much as he did Nikko, and that's rare. And when I say rare, I mean rare. The room was pretty much dark, and if you were looking at it from a side view, you'd see a small sort of figure tied up to a chair while another leaned on the wall. Clearly and simply put, Nikko and Kabuto were most likely the only ones awake and were the only living beings in the room.

"I trusted you?"

"That you did." Kabuto pushed up his spectacles, then pushed up the fourteen-year olds also. She flinched slightly, taking the silver-haired medical-ninja by surprise a bit. "Don't take this too personally. If I wasn't working for Orochimaru, this wouldn't be happening." Nikko thought about that slightly for a second. Her brows furrowed as she went into deep thought, processing what was happening through her head over and over again. Her dirt-blonde hair rested on her shoulders and she hung her head, still quite upset that KABUTO was the one who had kidnapped her. Twitching slightly, Kabuto looked over, "…Hey, I'm basically saying I'm sorry, okay?"

"You say you're sorry. It doesn't mean that you actually mean it, you bastard."

Standing in the doorway of the main office in Sound village, where Konoha's assigned ninjas. Indeed, they were all in a ready position, ready to fight. Mitsarugi, of course, was the one who had said the previous comment. Sure, she wasn't exactly old enough to have such colorful vocabulary. But I guess infuriation blocks out the conscience in one's head who tells them to keep a clean mind of words. Kabuto had averted his gaze towards the ninjas, examining them. It was them again. He'd have to get his scalpel hands working again…

Alona was cursing herself on the inside. She had forgotten her flute today, which could have easily been the one weapon that got them in and out of this building with Nikko. Yes, they would have gotten back to Konoha without any injuries. And the mission would be done successfully and quickly. But no, she had to have left it in her closet. The rubicund hair had been hiding her face right now, but if you looked closely, you could see the emerald eyes gazing upon the pink haired ninja next to her. Sakura. Sakura was shaking slightly, though the grasp on her kunai was firm, indicating she was a little tense. It was funny… she never seemed this uptight. In truth, Sakura was scared to death. Sure, she felt safe knowing Sasuke was there, of course. But he never really promised her verbally she'd be safe. Naruto was the one who had always assured her safety. Countless times, he'd say, "I'll protect you, Sakura-chan!" And honestly? That was the real thing that made her feel safe and secure. But she knew with what they had planned, they'd be out as soon as possible.

Shikamaru looked down at Zeo, who knew it was her turn now to help out. She'd be the one who'd get them out quickly, really. Though he knew, for sure, after thinking over two hundred possible moves, he'd easily be the one who could help them out, she deserved a chance. The ex-mist-nin was already plotting out plan or so. He squeezed her hand lightly, then looked back up at Kabuto. Sasuke had already gotten his Chidori ready, the Sharingan eyes thus showing their trademark red glow. Mitsa gave an aggressive nudge in his shoulder. They'd have to be discreet. If they attracted attention to the room, they were… well, in Naruto's terms, 'screwed'. So backing down, Sasuke gave an agitated grunt and ceased his powerful skill. The brunette's eyes quirked; it was obvious she didn't have much of an impact on the Uchiha, but he yielded otherwise. Maybe he wasn't being such a muscle-bound now that Naruto wasn't here… maybe the blonde was his one-way excuse whenever he fucked up? She couldn't see Sasuke pulling a, 'Naruto did it.', though. That was more Sakura-like. "Shikamaru-kun…" The snow-haired ex-nin said softly, "Get me upset. Again. Like you did last time."

"What the hell?"

Silence was the only reply given to the rude inquiry. "Just do it." Now, the Naara had a tendency to act by instinct. With an agitated grunt, he shook his head, muttering something about it being 'too troublesome'. This initiated anger. "Naara Shikamaru, if you don't get me upset I'll---" Slap. She seemed surprised, now with a red mark burning painfully into her right cheek. And the rain began drizzling outside. But they needed more than just drizzle right now. What they needed… was a thunder storm. Something to attract Kabuto's attention for just the slightest second. Slap. The rain increased. Sakura was surprised at the Naara's actions, along with the brunette… Alona didn't seem to be paying attention to anyone but Nikko, and Sasuke didn't seem to care at all. Nikko looked outside, along with the silver-haired medical ninja. "It wasn't raining awhile ago…" he said quietly, amused, soon to be frozen in his spot. That was the cue. A thick, red liquid ran down Kabuto's neck as he tried hard to move his body, only failing in the attempt. Nikko looked up, "… Barb wire." Barb wire had been Mitsa's trump card for the longest time, and it worked semi-effectively. Hands had already swiftly begun untying the rope around the dirty blonde, causing Kabuto to make and agitated grunt. "D-Dammit…" Sasuke looked up from the ropes for a second. His eyes had already converted automatically to sharingan, possibly due to frustration. "Sasuke, hurry up!" The familiar, frantic voice his mind had once forgotten rang in his ears, "The barb wire shouldn't have much more effect!" _Well, technically that's my fault… I didn't pack enough senbon to use it on such a mission… I didn't want to waste it when we could just run away. _**Just run away. **This awkwardly took a shot at her pride. Paint Mitsarugi's life in front of her; what do you see? Her pride diminished. Jerking back to reality, she felt a hand tug painfully at hers, "Dammit, Mits, go!" Sasuke. She recognized that voice. Nodding, she took in what was around her: Sasuke running behind her, her feet moving on her own, Nikko lugged over Shikamaru's back, Zeo holding the Naara's hand, Sakura tripping over the wet streets, then practically breaking her neck from falling off the branches, Alona just acting calm and making her way, all the while rain pouring onto them with the occasional lightning streaking into the atmosphere. The brunette shook her head, _don't let the lightning effect you… don't let… it… effect you… _Sasuke quirked a brow, then rolled his eyes. Oh, right. She hated thundering and lightning.

"Quit being a baby, Mits, it's just lightning."

_Just _lightning? I think not. "R-Right." Hopping on, she didn't bother to look back at the Uchiha. All they needed to worry about right now was a girl who got captured previously, not a shaking rookie who couldn't stand a bit of lightning. Zeo looked at the dirty-blonde, "Did he hurt you, Nikko?" She shook her head lightly. "Nope. Not the smallest bit. I think, though, if ya wanted to go by the lines of hurting without realizin' it, it'd jus' be when he tied me up to the chair. But that's 'bout it." The ex-mist nin, smiled ever slightly, nodding. Well, good. They wouldn't have to waste their first aid on any wounds. Sakura was already flying off trees as it was. They'd probably need most of the bandages for HER, anyway.

And Shikamaru. Chances were, when they got back, Nikko would hop off his back. Ouch.

_Somewhere in the Chuunin exam practice clearing, the following day, __7:10 PM_

"Sandy-booooooooooy!"

Gaara looked up. Now, he didn't exactly say anything. But words were easily manifested into actions, and for Gaara, he tended to be an expert at representing things through actions more than speaking. An annoyed blonde huffed, whipping out her fan at an amazingly fast rate, "Aa! Gaara! It's that Delana girl! Want me to blow her to Timbuktu?! Please?!" The raven haired kunoichi blinked. "Oh come ON, I'm not THAT bad… hey, what'd I ever do to you, anyway?" Temari froze and blinked for a second. The answer to that question? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. The blood haired ninja gave a look up, "Aa?" Delana grinned, placing her hands on her hips, pointing accusingly at the Sabakuno, "Battle! Now!" Kankuro looked down at Gaara for a second, then rubbed his head. Let's see. Festival or fight. Festival or fight… festival or fight… Temari huffed and stomped her feet; couldn't she SEE that they were in kimonos and gis? The black haired girl had already stormed ahead, throwing random kunai and shuriken, barely even scratching Gaara's sand, causing her to wince. "Not right now. There's a festival in town. I'm going." At the last sentence, he somewhat hissed it; personally, Sabakuno Gaara was not a fan of public events. But when your gourd is on the line, though you know you can kick your sister's ass, you tend to give in. Delana blinked, "…Festival..? Oh! Dammit! I forgot all about it!" She had been wearing her kimono, though, upon seeing Gaara, she completely forgot. With her kimono of a deep, blood red and dark violet hibiscus flower designs, she picked up a kunai and held it up threateningly to the Sabakuno, "Aa! Gaara! I'm coming with you!"

Oh hell.

Temari adjusted her pink kimono, tossing her blonde hair over her shoulder, "No! It's just going to be me, Gaara, and Kankuro!" Delana shook her head violently, stomping, "Nooo! I'm coming with you!" Kankuro had backed up. Very very far away. He preferably didn't want to take part in catfights. Poor Gaara. The mood of the argument was left in his very calloused hands. "…She can come, Temari, quit making a fit about it." It was clearly obvious from his facial expression that he was quite annoyed, but decided to make everyone happy anyway. Besides. Maybe he could drop Delana off one of the roller coasters. Temari huffed, fixing Gaara's red gi with the black wrapping, "Fine… she can come, but she's hiking herself right back home whenever we decide we want to leave." Nodding, the cutesy, violet-eyed ninja clung to Gaara's arm. Twitch-twitch. Maybe he should have denied her coming after all. They began walking to the fair ground, however.

_Fairgrounds, __8:15 PM_

"You know, Nikk, the point of coming to a fair is to wear a KIMONO, not jeans and a shirt."

"Show some sympathy, I'm in a WHEELCHAIR, dern you." The dirty-blonde, indeed, wore a green t-shirt with deep blue jeans that appeared darker due to the darkened atmosphere. Mitsarugi, however, had worn the appropriate attire: a black kimono with a gold waist wrapping and white lotus designs. Her hair was tied up into a low ponytail with a deep blue ribbon that had an Uchiha fan on it; she had found it a few years ago while exploring the ruins of the Uchiha estate. "Not my fault someone decided to not pay attention on our mission." Nikko pushed up her glasses, then got tempted to roll over Mitsa's foot, only to be stopped by Zeo, who was in a pure white kimono with blue snowflakes. "Don't go killing each other, please." Shikamaru shook his head, "How troublesome…" Sakura giggled, clinging to Rock Lee's arm, who had gotten out of the hospital for once to walk around from his operation. "Ne, Lee-kun, let's go to the ferris wheel!" Dragging the poor boy over to the machine, she had an unfamiliar blush making way onto her face. Shikamaru… yet again, shook his head, "How troublesome."

Sasuke, who was dressed in a deep blue Uchiha gi, had chosen to remain silently while a familiar brunette clung to his arm. Hey. Ino and Sakura had originally been bugging him about who he was going to the fair with, so he resulted to the Urashima who… well, hadn't EXACTLY agreed to being his fair 'date', her eye being set on Kiba, but… she was such a _wonderful _buddy, and he _needed _a date who would make him _actually enjoy the night. _Yes, Sasuke wasn't exactly the best sweet-talker kami-sama had ever made, but he appeared to be working on it. "Aa, Sasuke, I'm going over by the lake." Nodding, she waved slightly to the raven-haired Uchiha, letting go of his arm before walking over to the, what appeared to be, deep black lake. To Mitsa, apparently, that seemed more interesting than the Ferris wheel, or the prizes. Or the chocolate cheesecake on the stick. Which Nikko had already been munching happily on. Shrugging, the Uchiha just followed behind. He didn't exactly want to be left with Ino and Chouji, who went together.

Because if Ino saw the fact that Sasuke was alone, she'd grasp the chance and maul him over to the tunnel of love, then proceed to rape him or something.

Shikamaru and Zeo had already made their way over to the Ferris wheel, the whole idea being Zeo's pretty much, sitting in the seat while looking up at the sky. Well, the young Naara was more interested in getting the hell out of the seat then focusing on the sky at the moment. But Zeo had better things on her mind. "Shikamaru…" she whispered softly, turning his head a bit, the same scowl on his face. "What is it—" Closing her eyes softly, she softly pressed her lips onto his, shutting the annoyed twelve year old up for a bit. Pulling back, she smiled a bit, then went back to looking at the stars. She slightly brushed some white hair strands out of her face, then blinked when the ferris wheel made a jerk. Shikamaru looked down, men shouting to the passengers that the wheel was just undergoing some technical difficulties. The black haired ninja proceeded to bang his head on the Ferris wheel seat, "You've." Bang. "Got." Bang. "To be." Bang. "Kidding me."

"Hey, stop making such noise up there!"

And it was thus known to Shikamaru that, yet again, he'd have yet ANOTHER bad day.

"Running away from your fangirls?" the brunette's semi-high pitched voice commented quietly. The Uchiha just shrugged. "You constantly have girls who just like you because of your looks chase you around all day, then we'll talk about that." Mitsarugi smirked, running her hands through the water of the lake, "Aa." Sasuke sat by the younger ninja, looking at the water, "Why'd you want to come to the lake, anyway? There's games out there I'm sure you'd be the one dominating." She shrugged. Silence. That was her usual reply to everything around him. Just silence.

"I guess I just don't like social events that much anymore."

That was an acceptable reply, right? Not everyone always has to be fond of fairs and things of the like, right? _That's not a reply I'd expect to hear out of you. _Shrugging, the Uchiha looked away from the Urashima, "Aa." Before he knew it, a hand had pushed him into the darkened waters. And in instinct, his hand grabbed the nearest thing after his brain registered that what he was plunging deeper into was quite cold. And that thing just happened to be Mitsa's foot. "H-hey, Sas-Sasuke! What the--?!" And she fell into the icy waters too. Damn.

She KNEW she should have brought towels.

Grabbing land, Sasuke, completely drenched, made his way out of the waters, a cold brunette huddling up next to him, shivering. "H-hey… T-That… Wasn't… Funny…" Clinging to the Uchiha, she decided to ignore his somewhat angered look on his face. Can't be angry now. Have to search for body heat. So agitatedly, he wrapped his arms around the shivering Urashima, her arms making their way around his body too. This was TOO easy; she had him wrapped around her finger. Though she honestly wouldn't be doing thing if he hadn't decided to drag her in with him… "What was THAT for?" he hissed slightly, causing her to wince. "S-Sorry… I just wanted to get you w-wet, that's all…" Great. Now she was turning into his stutter dummy. "Well, looks like you ended up getting yourself wet in the meanwhile. They have towels, right?" She shrugged. "I'm not sure." Double damn.

Hinata blushed at Naruto, she was still in his hospital room. "Anou… Naruto-kun… I brought you some ramen… 'tou-san said it would warm your bones up a bit…" Well, to be more specific, Hiashi had said something a little ruder that that, but that's beside the point. Nonetheless, the blonde hade graciously accepted the ramen, downing it in almost no time flat, causing the white-eyed Hyuuga to smile. "Thank you, Hinata-chan!" he said with a grin, causing the petit girl to smile even wider.

"No problem, Naruto-kun…."

'Anou sa, anou sa! Did the nurse say anything about the festival tonight?! I want to go, but I don't want to result to jumping out of the window just yet." Hinata shook her head, "Iie, she hasn't said anything…." This caused Naruto to grin his trademark grin all over again. "Well! Then I'll just have to break outta the hospital!"

A/N: And now I'm tired and don't feel like writing anymore. Sorry guys.

Preview of the next chapter: _Delana__ grinned at Gaara, "Hey! Sandy-boy!" This caused him to look over a bit. "Aa?" Tossing her hair slightly, she placed her hands on her hips, then continued to grin deviously at the Sabakuno. _

"I challenge you to riding THAT roller coaster over there with me over and over! The first one who pukes wins!"

_Confidently, he looked over to examine the roller coaster. Fuck. The loops on that roller coaster were killer, including so many drops and the speed didn't help much. In his mind, though very un-Gaara-like, he whispered slightly:_

_Help._


End file.
